 In the "Chicago Tribune", Greg Kot wrote that the record "functions primarily as background music, sustaining its contemplative tone and percolating groove almost too well".Ann Powers of "The New York Times" called Maxwell "an expert seducer" and the music "the aural equivalent of lotion rubbed on one's back by someone interesting", but believed the lyrics lacked substance.Greg Tate wrote in "Spin" that the album "comes off as a tad New Agey, art-rock pretentious, emotionally calculated, and sappy."