Critical Reception
Andy Kellman from Allmusic stated that "Hudson's voice is smoothed out through the fluttery "If This Isn't Love" (not to mention spiked with grating male grunts of "Hey!"), nearly unrecognizable until the point where she belts." Slant Magazine said that " 'If This Isn't Love' succeeds at sounding completely modern without eschewing the standard adult-contemporary song structure that's tailor-made for pipes like Hudson's."
David Balls from Digital Spy felt that "If This Isn't Love" was a "delicate love song that finds Hudson in her natural comfort zone. 'God sent me an angel from above, that's going to love me for life,' she sings soulfully, with recent events making the lyrics particularly resonant. Combining modish beats with a cool, breezy chorus, 'If This Isn't Love' may not be in the same league as recent power ballads from Beyoncé and Leona, but it has an understated charm that's hard to quibble with." Commenting on its remix, produced by Fraser T. Smith, he added: "The single comes with no fewer than six different remixes, but the straightforwardly-titled Fraser T Smith Remix wins 'B-side Of The Week' as it adds a bit of extra zest to the song without removing any of its understated charm. Smith has carefully tinkered with the track's foundations, injecting some R&B adrenaline and a bit more of a beat. Thankfully, he's also chopped out the male screeching from the start of the original, which seemed bizarrely inappropriate in the first place."
Read more about this topic: If This Isn't Love (Jennifer Hudson Song)
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