The Architect was preceded by the single "Bubblegum" in April 2023, when Robin Murray of Clash Music called it "a zesty slice of electronic-saturated R&B bedlam that evades standard genre descriptors".

[4] Editors at Stereogum chose it as the best song of the week, with critic Tom Breihan calling it "a hard-slamming booty-shake anthem" that sounds like Richard's previous group Danity Kane.

[1] In Rolling Stone, Charisma Madarang praised "Babe Ruth"'s music video for its color and choreography and called the song "hard-hitting".

[9] Grant Sharples of Uproxx also included this among the best new indie music of the week, calling "further evidence of Richard’s undeniable artistic prowess".

[10] Jon Pareles of The New York Times chose "Babe Ruth" as one of the best songs of the week, characterizing it as "a blurry, glitchy intro [that] segues into an electro thump, a house bounce and a jazz-rock guitar solo that ends as if awaiting another metamorphosis".