He also pointed out the presence of 'ghost-producers' in the industry who are professionals hired to create songs for another DJ and remains completely anonymous,[12] and that big-name DJs can simply pay a large sum of money to secure headlining slots for major festivals, which based on Zohar is about $100,000.

[13] While on his MAD tour in January 2017, Zohar appeared to have changed his mind about retiring, with Dancing Astronaut stating that he "exudes a renewed sense of vigor and passion" by sticking to his roots.

[10] Writing for Dancing Astronaut, Christina Hernandez said that the tracks in the record "seem to mirror Zo's current feelings about the state of electronic", with him "translating" the "weight of his jaded thoughts" into each composition.

She continued by commenting on the presence of nostalgia as an uplifting role for "Soul Food" and "Sinful", which makes one "reminisce [about] older, carefree times with each instrumental riff".

[2] Raymond Murphy of We Rave You noted that the album "flows incredibly well as the tracks move from one to the other almost telling a story of the different styles of electronic music" and observed its similarity to Zohar's 2013 BBC Essential Mix in the way it progresses.

[18] Beatmash Magazine stated that Self Assemble "strips everything that was not necessary in his previous work [Damage Control]" to focus on building a record which is "conceived as a unique musical piece" where each song "engages with the next".

[19] Mixmag's Ellie Hanagan granted the record a 7/10 rating and commented that although the album "can feel a little disjointed", listeners could "never accuse him [Mat Zo] of being predictable".