It achieved international success when released as a single in 1986, including the United States and Japan, though it failed to enter the Top 20 in the UK.

[1] He said this changed when Bananarama had major success with their Dead or Alive-inspired cover of "Venus", which Burns claimed encouraged the label to schedule "Brand New Lover" for release.

[1] Jerry Smith of the Music Week magazine described "Brand New Lover" as a "high energy dance track" with a "typically effervescent style", and praised Burns' "instantly memorable vocal" and SAW's "polished production".

[2] By contrast, Ro Newton of Smash Hits considered "it's just the same old... Hi-NRG stomp" and "that's a lost thing" here, as there are "no surprises, no shocks and hardly worth the wait".

[4] In 2021, British magazine Classic Pop ranked "Brand New Lover" number 31 in their list of "Top 40 Stock/Aitken/Waterman songs", adding that it "shared rhythmic similarities to their No.1 smash "You Spin Me Round" but leaned heavily on the synth-bass, with Pete Burns' goth-pop tones vocalising his need to flee his lover".