The art of pretending to swim

"'The Art Of Pretending To Swim' is the band's most ambitious record to date ... Villagers fans will no doubt love this record, which has the capacity to obtain a new fanbase with O'Brien's newly found sound".

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"It may be O'Brien's most instinctive album to date, but intimacy, melody and good old-fashioned songcraft clearly remain as important as ever. If this is merely the art of pretending to swim, his podium finish - however far in the future it may be - ought to be truly Olympian".

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"The Art of Pretending to Swim is never less than pleasant, and there are no bad songs here. But it's only intermittently interesting because O'Brien's vocals and melodies are mostly just okay. When O'Brien throws in those weird synth sounds and that fast final minute of "Ada", or even that better than average refrain on "Fool", that's when Villagers grab the ears. Outside of those instances, the album often faded from my focus, becoming slightly funky background music".

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