martyn young of "diy" described the compilation as "a triumph of compellingly brilliant classy pop". jaime gill of bbc music raved, "fourteen songs that veer between the perfect and the merely outstanding, "the singles" is proof that goldfrapp have been the most versatile and most consistently, glitteringly brilliant pop band of our new millennium." in a review for the "daily express", simon gage found that the duo "has built up quite a body of work as displayed on this gorgeous little collection", writing that "[w]hile their albums are well-worth discovering and hugely well-received, the singles showcase some excellent work". lewis corner of digital spy stated, "for over a decade the duo have been writing consistently fantastic pop songs—and here is the proof." elaine buckley of entertainment.ie commended the duo for their "wonderful electric stylings" and wrote that "the songs of "the singles" are still as impressive as ever." slant magazine's matthew cole viewed the compilation as "a terrific showcase for goldfrapp's versatility, though on the crucial point of whether or not their midtempo and ambient numbers are as essential as their dance hits, it's not entirely convincing." john murphy of musicomh expressed, "whereas each of goldfrapp's albums occasionally had the odd filler track that stopped them from being gilt-edged classics, here we get all the meat and none of the fat [...] there's so much pop sensibility crammed in here that each track sounds almost impossibly fresh."