The Art of Pretending to Swim is the fourth studio album by Irish band Villagers.

[4] The Art of Pretending to Swim was met with "generally favorable" reviews from critics.

[5] Aggregator Album of the Year gave the release a 75 out of 100 based on a critical consensus of 15 reviews.

[14] Mark Deming from AllMusic wrote about the album: "This music feels warmer and more naturalistic than his earlier experiments with one-man recording, and there's a gentle swing in the rhythms that suggests he's been listening to some smooth R&B lately.

[The album] is a strong example of how one man with an unlimited number of tracks to fill can create a compelling and revealing collection of songs.