"shades of cool" received general acclaim from music critics, who praised its musical style. a few of whom opined that the track would be appropriate for a "james bond" film. commercially, the single peaking at number 79 on the us "billboard" hot 100 and entered the top-40 of a few record charts, including belgium, france, italy, and spain. a music video for "shades of cool" was directed by jake nava and was described as a film noir visual.