 Stephen received positive comments from music critics . Fraser McAlpine of BBC Music used Stephen as an example of the songs on Animal ( 2010 ) that exemplified the singer 's vocals , saying it had " beautiful layered a cappella harmonies . Sure , it tumbles into clunky pop straight afterwards , but then , that also seems to be what she does : beautiful things are bashed against ugly things , pretty melodies ruined by silly noises , emotional lyrics stuffed with buzzwords . " Daniel Brockman of The Boston Phoenix wrote of the album that " in a post – ' Birthday Sex ' pop landscape , there 's plenty of room for dumb if it 's done well . " He described Stephen as " an ode to forcing your sexual advances on your high @-@ school history teacher . " Ann Powers of the Los Angeles Times listed the song as one of those that exemplified the album 's more experimental side , calling it a " country @-@ in @-@ space " rendition . 
