[3] Diana Potts from AllMusic said "Translated, most of the songs on Serious Tam are about the common themes of daily life and passionate love.

"[4] Josef Woodard from Jazz Times said "Producer David Bridie brings Telek into popish relief, layering on guitars, backbeats and synth sounds on the album Serious Tam.

[3] Li Robbins said "Telek takes the music of Papua New Guinea's Tolai people, and updates it with keyboards, electric bass and guitar, and ambient sounds.

The hybrid is for the most part executed with a sure hand, excepting the track Waitpela Gras, where vestiges of prog rock suddenly make an unwelcome visit -- a heavy-handedness sadly all too regular a feature of Realworld recordings.

Once some conventional, and not-so-conventional, Western instrumentation was added to this music, the arrangements emerged as a very appealing traditional/world pop fusion."