A gospel pop song with influences of R&B and a dance-pop chorus, it has lyrics about Adele's desire to start dating again and being guarded while beginning a relationship with a new love interest.
[4] She decided to have regular conversations with her son,[3][5] which inspired her return to the studio and the album took shape as a body of work that would explain to him why she left his father.
[19][20] Clash's Robin Murray described the song as "sheer gospel abandon", while Consequence's Mary Siroky and Glenn Rowley believed it "incorporates more R&B sounds".
[25] Music columnist Bruno Tummers said on RTBF that she combines her vocal identity with new sonorities whilst retaining her soul roots in the song.
[26] Adele sings parts of it with a staccato,[27] along with sped-up background vocals, which Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times thought were "processed nearly beyond recognition".
[28][29] NME's El Hunt described "Oh My God" as a "helium-charged" song reminiscent of Sault, and The Guardian's Alexis Petridis thought it offered an unprocessed take on the "stomping rhythm" included in the verses of "Rolling in the Deep" (2010).
[31][32] It discusses being guarded while falling in love with a new person, whom Elle speculated might be Rich Paul, a sports agent she was dating at the time of its release.
Variety's Chris Willman commented that the song's "four-on-the-floor beat and some electro-squiggles" were the nearest Kurstin got to making music suited to the year 2021 without sounding too out of place on 30.
[35][37] Writing for AllMusic, Neil Z. Yeung foresaw commercial success for "Oh My God", and noted that it "rides an infectious beat peppered with handclaps and whistles".
[34] The Telegraph's Neil McCormick wrote that the song's vocal harmonies are "carefully stacked" and Adele "absolutely roll[s] in the deep blues".
[39] Jill Mapes of Pitchfork thought "Oh My God" stylistically lays somewhere between the work of Ed Sheeran and Florence Welch, but Adele's vocal tics introduce personality.
[40] Eric Mason of Slant Magazine thought Adele explored a more modern sound on the song, but "with mixed results", and added that its production "feels somewhat sanitized, like the accompaniment to a car commercial".
[43] The song peaked at number five on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming her eighth top-10 on the chart, and the Recording Industry Association of America certified it Platinum in the US on June 29, 2022.
[68] The black and white video features various versions of Adele performing the song in a room filled with wooden chairs, accompanied by backup dancers.
[65][68] In it, Adele successively wears three custom outfits by Harris Reed, Louis Vuitton, a scarlet red satin corset designed by Vivienne Westwood, and a Cartier diamond necklace.
[69] The latter half of the video features religious imagery, and Adele in a Louis Vuitton outfit designed by Nicolas Ghesquière, integrating a golden brocade dress, a short white cape, and black leather opera gloves, surrounded by a halo of light.
"[33] Bria McNeal of Nylon thought the visuals were "stunning" and marked the beginning of a more vulnerable era for Adele, taking its viewers on "a winding journey".