[1] "Run-Away" received many positive reviews from critics who variously described it as "absolutely timeless stuff",[2] "outstanding" and "up there with the most finely polished weapons in the SFA armoury".

[5] A "spooky", "tongue-in-cheek" video was produced for the song directed by Richard Ayoade and starring his Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, The IT Crowd and The Mighty Boosh co-star Matt Berry.

[6] In an interview with Tiny Mix Tapes in January 2008 Gruff Rhys admitted that "Run-Away" owed much to Phil Spector-type 'Wall of Sound' production: "The drumbeat is definitely a nod to that.

[8][12] A short breakdown middle 8 leads to a double chorus (the second of which features a key change to C-sharp major) before the song breaks down again and ends with Rhys singing "There's nothing that I could have said but cry, a little, lie, a little, die, just a little" over sparse musical backing.

[8] "Run-Away" received much praise from reviewers with the Manchester Evening News claiming the track to be "absolutely timeless stuff", likening it to Gruff Rhys "swaggering up to the karaoke and picking out his favourite Roy Orbison ballad" and the NME stating that, "with a chorus as big as guitarist Huw Bunford's new serial-killer beard, it's up there with the most finely polished weapons in the SFA armoury".

[2] The Chronicle however, criticised "Run-Away" and previous single "Show Your Hand" for sounding "more like the generic pop songs one would find on the radio than those of a historically experimental band".

[17] The "tongue-in-cheek",[20] video for "Run-Away" was directed by Richard Ayoade and features his Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, The IT Crowd and The Mighty Boosh co-star Matt Berry.

[6] The video begins with close-ups of Berry driving a vintage car on a moonlit night intercut with shots of a woman in a white dress running through sparse woodland.