Upon its release, "Burn" was met with a mixed response from music critics, who praised it as "catchy" and noted it as one of Goulding's most radio-friendly songs to date, while others felt it was not memorable.

"[5] In an interview with Billboard magazine, one of the song's co-writers, Ryan Tedder, stated, "I wrote ['Burn'] on a tour bus in Chicago, me and Brent [Kutzle] ... Ellie cut the vocal, killed it, she didn't mess around.

'"[9] Lewis Corner of Digital Spy, giving the track four out of five stars, opined that Goulding "presents what is most likely to go down as one of her more radio-friendly singles to date", adding that her voice "also glides above the dream pop glow to ear-pleasing effect".

[10] Despite praising Goulding's vocals as "angelic and ethereal", Amy Sciarretto of PopCrush rated the song three out of five stars, stating, "While 'Burn' is undeniably catchy, it's not the singer's most memorable track to date."

Sciarretto concluded that it "doesn't sound like the pivotal track which will elevate her career even further in the mainstream radio world, but her fans will no doubt love it.

[14][15] In its fourth week, the song was knocked off the top spot by Katy Perry's "Roar", falling to number two with 51,924 units sold.

[34] The track debuted and peaked at number seven on the New Zealand Singles Chart,[35] and was certified double platinum by Recorded Music NZ.

[36] Filming of the music video for "Burn" took place at RAF Wittering near Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, on 3 June 2013, and included 180 extras.

[39][40] The video opens with an orange colour scheme of Goulding singing with friends and lens flares shining upon their movements with some smoke.

Later, Goulding is seen in a gigantic field with hundreds of light spheres and the video ends with flares and more dancing with far more dancers and a red-themed scene.

[citation needed] On 31 October, she performed the song on the second live results show of the seventh series of the Italian version of The X Factor.

[42][43] Goulding performed "Burn" at the BBC Children in Need Rocks 2013 benefit show at the Hammersmith Apollo in London on 13 November 2013.

[44] On 26 November, Goulding performed it on the fifth season of The Voice, where she was joined on stage by contestants James Wolpert, Matthew Schuler and Will Champlin.