[2] The song was produced by percussionist Jamie xx and written by guitarist Romy Madley Croft and bassist Oliver Sim.
[1] "Chained" charted at number 19 in Belgium and received positive reviews from music critics, who complimented Jamie xx's minimalist production and the vocal interplay between Croft and Sim.
[6] Hari Ashurst of Pitchfork Media views their vocal interplay as "duelling" and writes, "The two vocalists swoop and duck around each other's verses, almost as if they're avoiding each other.
[7] Paula Mejia of Prefix writes that the song "carefully structures itself on the formulaic build of beats, rising like the pace of a palpitating heartbeat and bursting into a shimmer of oscillating sounds".
"[12] Will Hermes of Rolling Stone gave the song four out of five stars and praised Jamie xx's "sleight-of-hand minimalism", writing that "at present he may be the most elegant beatmaker in pop.