Critical Reception
Nick Levine from Digital Spy positively reviewed "Sweet About Me," giving it four out of five stars. Levine comended Xenomania's production on the track, calling it "authentic" and "fresh". He also praised Gabriella Cilmi's vocals on the song, "Most impressive of all is Cilmi's voice, which manages to be sweet and coarse all at the same time, much like a drizzling of honey on a slice of toast." Jake Taylor of Sputnikmusic deemed ”Sweet About Me” as one of the best songs released by an Australian artist on debut. He wrote, "A lot of songs focus on the chorus as the returning point for the listener’s attention, but 'Sweet About Me' dumps that for a well rounded mix of brilliant singing and layered pop production on all levels." Contactmusic.com complimented "Sweet About Me" saying it brings a little fun back to pop. The song received a four out of five star rating from Fraser McAlpine of the BBC who compared Cilmi to British singers Amy Winehouse and Duffy, "Perky song, this. Well suited to grabbing your attention even in the middle of the sudden run of post- soul sirens, largely because it swings a bit, and seems to have some spark of its own, rather than stiffly wearing its '60s influences like a pair of slightly-too-small cuban heeled boots ." Mark Reid of The New Zealand Herald described the track as "incredibly catchy". The song was classed as an obvious highlight on Lessons to Be Learned by Colin Polonowski of The Digital Fix. Andrew Cock of The Dwarf said that "Sweet About Me" is as catchy as ever and will continue to receive wide public acclaim. Cock noted, "At times this song seems so sweet it oozes honey, feeling deliberately boppy." Cilmi's vocal performance on the song was praised by Paul Cashmere of Undercover FM, "From the sultry opening notes of the debut single 'Sweet About Me', the world will quickly come to know it's uncovered a major new vocal talent in Gabriella Cilmi."
Elisabeth Vincentelli from Time Out ranked "Sweet About Me" as the best song of 2008. Vincentelli wrote, "Production team Xenomania crafted a typically ace tune for this 17-year-old Aussie, and her unassumingly sexy delivery brought it all home." "Sweet About Me" was nominated in the category 'Most Performed Work' at the Ivor Novello Awards. The song won 'Single of the Year' at the 2008 ARIA Awards.
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