[3] "Carnival" was the first released material by the Cardigans on which Nina Persson received a writing credit, on this occasion alongside bassist Magnus Svenningsson whom she would later supersede as the group's primary lyricist.

[5] John Mulvey from NME said the song "is blessed with a budget-flight-down-to-Rio bubbliness — imagine The Sugarcubes playing Swing Out Sister's greatest hits — that makes it oddly irresistible.

"[6] Another NME editor, Mark Beaumont, found that it "takes a vibe-surfing bus tour around Parisian tourist spots".

[7] Mark Sutherland from Smash Hits gave "Carnival" a top score of five out of five and named it Best New Single, writing, "...they've just written the perfect pop song.

Xylophones and guitars tinkle merrily, Nina coos Come on and love me now, every male on the planet goes Oh, alright then, and the whole world thinks Sod school/work for a game of soldiers and nips off to the coast for a bossa nova beach party.