"With John Vanderslice on board as producer for a third straight time, Samantha Crain's fifth album, You Had Me at Goodbye, takes a fairly bold step away from her more rustic earlier releases toward a brighter if still earthy indie pop. Electronic keys, synths, and Brill Building-type strings, as opposed to fiddle, step in to reinforce guitars, piano, and drums ... Time will tell if the overall poppier disposition is a determined shift or a diversion, but, alongside the album's dark humor and utter lack of stagnation, it's one she handles with skill".