In a Time Lapse

In a Time Lapse has received positive reviews from music critics. According to a Classic FM review, "The Italian composer strikes gold once more with a haunting combination of dreamlike piano tunes and busy orchestral soundscapes." The Independent critic noted the "trancelike wave motion of tracks like 'Corale' and 'Run'" and "the more complex, layered pieces such as 'Life' ... cycling piano and glockenspiel against rhapsodic, flowing string lines", while also saying, concerning Einaudi's talent, that "there's a deeply satisfying emotional logic to his piano-based progressions that makes him as much the inheritor" of Frédéric Chopin and Erik Satie as of minimalists such as Philip Glass and Steve Reich. Writing for AllMusic, James Manheim described In a Time Lapse as an accessible entry point into Ludovico Einaudi’s catalog, noting its balance between minimalism, new age, and pop-influenced piano music.