 In a mixed review , Slant Magazine 's Jesse Cataldo gave Goldenheart three stars and wrote that , despite its interesting " musical palette and tenacious personality " , Richard " falls back on the same tired tropes that have made many conventional R & B acts feel so exhaustingly familiar . " Ryan B. Patrick of Exclaim ! found the album 's lyrics uninspired and wrote that it " functions as a hypnotic aural distraction , but little more . " Ben Ratliff of The New York Times characterized Goldenheart as " oddball R & B ... at times mawkish , plodding , self @-@ obsessed , gothy , campy , filmic " , and mused , " Is it good ? I don 't know about that . But it has the dissonant attraction of something ventured . And it 's confident enough to sound normal . " Giving it four @-@ and @-@ a @-@ half stars , AllMusic 's Andy Kellman called Goldenheart " sumptuous and grand " with enough exceptional songs to compensate for its intensity and indulgence . Pitchfork Media critic Andrew Ryce called Richard 's aptitude for theatricality " unparalleled " and wrote that her slightly " hammy " but " earnest personality both endears and empowers her work . " 
