Its ten tracks feature elements of hip hop, jazz and folk; apart from a guitar part recorded for "Slow Jam", the music is composed from between 200 and 300 samples, many processed beyond recognition.

[8] Hebden also used a Creative Labs microphone to record the guitar part for "Slow Jam"[3] and some sounds from television and sequenced the results in Cakewalk Pro Audio 9.

"[12] Pitchfork's Piotr Orlov characterised Rounds as an IDM album with production indebted to hip hop music in both its "collage approach" and emphasis on "steady grooves".

"[14] John Bush of AllMusic found the album contained elements of electronic and experimental music combined with "a dreamy melodicism sure to endear it to indie pop fans.

[20] The closing track, "Slow Jam", was described by Begrand as a "warm, wide-eyed, watching-the-sun-rise song" that features chiming guitars and a sample of a child's squeaky toy.

"[15] Michael Crumsho of Dusted found the album "a musical salvo from an artist who's confidently coming into his own", describing it as "a cozy, evocative soundtrack that's as intricate as it is beautiful.

"[16] In his review for The Guardian, David Peschek described the album as "a trove of bewitching melody and subtle invention", and wrote that "Rounds succeeds not only as a meticulously conceived piece of art but also as a moving expression of human warmth.

"[17] In Spin, Will Hermes described the album as a "varied trip" and noted "a darker vibe suggesting the influence of Hebden's labelmate Dan Snaith of Manitoba.

"[32] Stylus Magazine writer Nick Southall recognised Hebden's "perpetual evolution and motion," declaring that "this is simply a great record of beautiful music.

"[18] Robert Christgau's review of Rounds for The Village Voice argued that Hebden "imagines an aural space in which electronic malfunction is cute rather than annoying or ominous," using "the computer as music box.

"[33] Tom Ridge of The Wire stated that "nothing here sounds like an exercise in genre plundering," and that "Hebden has devised a musical identity that is distinctly different from his work with Fridge, but both projects share a passion for defying boundaries.