[6] Heather Phares of AllMusic wrote that "the way Webb blends folk, jazz, classic vocal pop, psych and prog ... in combinations that are elegant but too strange to be tasteful echoes latter-day Talk Talk, but there's a rustic eccentricity to songs such as "Light the Light" and "Martian Garden" that makes this album singular even within his body of work", concluding "Drift Code is the sound of an artist coming into his own on his own time".

[7] Andy Crump of Paste wrote "what Webb has created is so rich, so delightfully off-kilter, that an auxiliary listen is necessary the same way another sip of pickleback is necessary".

[11] Jordan Blum of PopMatters said "although there could be more diversity and depth at times, the vast majority of Drift Code is mesmeric in its idiosyncratic splendor" and that "Webb and company excel at bringing his novel vision to life with retro charisma, modern creativity, and a timeless classiness that guarantees its relevancy and appeal for the foreseeable future".

[13] Writing for The Guardian, Michael Hann awarded it a perfect score, describing it as "seem[ing] to exist in a time of its own" and praising its "determination to find or found some timeless folk tradition of their own".

[10] More critically, Valley also drew comparisons to David Bowie, but "even with the hint of familiarity, though, Webb's voice is a little flatter and a little less compelling.