[5] The EP was announced about 2 weeks after Bloc Party met up in New York City to begin the writing process for their fourth studio album.

Speaking to This Is Fake DIY, Kele said, about the cover of "Goodbye Horses": It’s one of my favourite songs of all time.

At the time of release a statement from Bloc Party's guitarist, Russell Lissack, was circulating in the press suggesting that Kele was no longer a part of the band and that they were planning to audition new singers.

[12] Drowned in Sound were rather critical of the album, stating that the track 'Release Me' "is irredeemably poor, a beige-by-numbers of bland synth stabs and trite lyrics that somehow manages to be both incredibly dull and, like the EP’s cover, unintentionally hilarious".

However, they were also more positive with mixed comments regarding the song "Love as a Weapon", calling it "the clear standout" of the EP, noting that it "builds from glitches and light percussion into a mesh of samples and piano arpeggios and hummed melodies lifted straight from 'The Prayer'".

[13] This Is Fake DIY gave the EP a score of 7/10, criticising the tone of Kele's lyrics, stating that The Hunter "sees Kele complete his journey from indie rock miserabalist to dubstep, floorfilling… miserabilist", and the EP's title, saying that "after the release of The Boxer, Kele continues his attempt to lay claim to all traditionally masculine roles with The Hunter", they jokingly added that "contenders for his next album title could be The Brickie or The Mechanic".

[15] The Independent commented that main producer XXXChange "brings a bracing electro sensibility to proceedings".