Some lyrics were rewritten, perhaps to prevent spoiling crucial plot details, since the soundtrack was released in stores before the movie opened in theaters, or to make the record flow better as a stand-alone album.

[10] According to David Toop in The Wire, Selmasongs bridges "the art of noise of the Futurists, the plastic fantastic musique concrète slapstick of Esquivel, Dean Elliot and Jack Fascinato, techno beats and Broadway musicals".

[11] Barney Hoskyns wrote that the album continues the blend of techno and soaring strings first explored on Homogenic (1997), describing the contents as "torch-song histrionics with skittering Warp backbeats.

[13] As Toop explained, "Since the Selma character is isolated by blindness, stoicism and physical imprisonment, Björk used location sound as a way of finding music in ambient noise, one of the only sensory environments accessible to her.

[14] Heather Phares from AllMusic gave a positive review, commenting, "Selmasongs' best tracks are poignant, inventive expressions of Björk's talent and Selma's daydreams and suffering.

[15] While giving a "C−" grade, David Browne from Entertainment Weekly noted that "the melding of drum and bass rhythms and panoramic classical orchestrations is as sonically impressive as it was on 1997's Homogenic.

But something here brings out the most precious and irritating aspects of Björk's elfin voice", but "yet Selmasongs is mostly show tunes on Ecstasy, and you keep praying for a police raid".