After its release, "Distant Lights" received generally favorable reviews from music critics, who complemented the track for being entirely different when compared to Ivy's previous material.

[1] Member Adam Schlesinger was busy with his side project Fountains of Wayne, while Andy Chase was working on a new band named Brookville.

[2] The album explored new genres for Ivy, including EDM and electronic music, something Chase stated "seem[ed] natural and ma[de] sense".

It's the song that created and led to the direction of this record"; in the same interview, Rosen claimed that the track had a "sleek beat" and "wistful melody" that served as the background for Durand's vocals that come off "halfway between a coo and a sigh".

[8] Kaitlyn Henaghan of Buzz Weekly found it to be "the obvious choice for a single, as it is extraordinarily catchy with a great, upbeat melody".

[9] Dorian S. Ham, writing for The Agit Reader, had mixed feelings towards the single, calling it "slightly worrying" and panning the "clubby beat" as being foreign to Ivy's catalog.