Following the release of his previous album Worlds (2014), Robinson had set high expectations for himself,[6] saying in 2018 that he felt he was "under a lot of pressure to do something akin to a follow-up".

[10] Dancing Astronaut's David Klemow felt that "Unfold" also reflects Robinson's struggles with depression and his fear of being unable to live up to the standard of Worlds.

This led Robinson to write the instrumentation in a similar style to his older music, while still retaining some distinctive elements of his newer works.

Robinson's own singing voice – which can be heard on the other singles from the album – appears on this song, increased in pitch to sound more feminine.

[12] As a result of "Unfold" now talking on a more maximalist tone, Robinson made the decision to place it towards the conclusion of the record rather than earlier, as he felt it to be "an end-of-album moment".

[15] While Triple J's Sose Fuamoli felt that the drums were "punching" and "emphatic",[16] Slant's Charles Lyons-Burt found them to be "diffuse" and "evocative of clanging sheet metal".