Interviewed by KCMP's Mary Lucia live from Austin, Texasmusic festivalSouth by Southwest on 13 March 2008, Noir half-jokingly described the album as “another homegrown thing, made in my very own bedroom – 12, 13 delightful tracks made from my soul, not too plastic.“[1]
The album received very positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 80, based on 15 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[2]
Entertainment Weekly‘s Michele Romero described the album as “endlessly uplifting” and praised it for its “instantly addictive compositions”.[5] Praising the album's melodies and production, Slant Magazine’s Jonathan Keefe also found the album “endlessly enjoyable”.[9]
AllMusic’s Tim Sendra found similar praise for the album, calling it “a second helping of a particularly good meal” and “a satisfying listening experience”. While seeing “no stand-out tracks”, he noted that “the overall quality of the record is so high and the sound is so perfect, you don't feel like there is something so terribly important missing”.[3]Drowned In Sound’s Dom Gourlay thought that, “[w]hile a tad too long, with this record Jim Noir has shown that the British singer/songwriter can be eccentric and amusing rather than bland and workmanlike - hopefully it will earn its creator his fair share of recognition”.[4]
Comparing the album to its predecessor, PopMatters’ Dan Raper called it “much more coherent and complete” as well as “much more mature, and (thereby) much more interesting”. However, he concluded that “Noir can still be goofy” at times, which is why his “music won’t appeal to everyone.”[8] Similarly undecided, The Guardian’s Jude Rogers was critical about the album’s “retrofuturism”: “When this time-travelling works, it dazzles: […] But elsewhere, its perkiness wanes quickly, and the whiff of kitsch sits as awkwardly as a paisley space suit.”[7]
