In a review for Resident Advisor, Andrew Ryce called Instrumentals 'a collection of aching, blown-out paeans to wonder, sadness and profound joy-music that any of the above could fall in love with.' Pitchfork critic Brandon Soderberg said Casino's 'attention to hip-hop structure. Instrumentals appropriates Casino's previous hip hop beats into moody compositions, which are characterized by melodramatic drum crescendos and melancholic electronic sounds. Its second half touches on bouncy basslines ('She's Hot'), dubstep-influenced, low-end grind ('Brainwash by London'), and vocal looping similar to the production of Kanye West ('Cold War'). Some of the mixtape explores a more traditional hip hop sound. An electronic mixtape, it features illbient, glitchbeat, and chillwave styles. Instrumentals consists of Clams Casino's reconstructions of backing tracks he originally produced for rappers such as Lil B and Soulja Boy.
