It received mostly positive reviews from music critics, with many commending the album for being an enjoyable, "glossy" dance record.
[4] The opening line in "If I Can't Dance" is, according to Ellis-Bextor in an interview for The Times website, a famous quote by feminist anarchist Emma Goldman.
"[4] She revealed that she had plans to release a song called "Hype", which sampled Kraftwerk's "The Model", but the record label denied her permission.
[5] It received mostly positive reviews from music critics, who commended the infusion of rock guitars and electronic beats, while calling it a strident and very good song.
Markedly more consistent than its enjoyable-but-spotty predecessors, but also – more importantly – far more gutsy, varied and vital, its many strong points are the most exciting of her career.
"[6] Nick Levine of Digital Spy also gave the album a rating of 4 out of 5 stars, writing "Trip the Light Fantastic easily fulfils the promise of its fizzy singles.
"[22] Pete Cashmore of NME gave the album a rating of 6 out of 10 stars, writing "Ellis-Bextor proffers lush, mechanical dance muzak, which is probably not what you want, so it helps that with the swooping 'New York City Lights' she is also delivering good pop songs.
"[17] Kitty Empire of The Observer wrote: "Ellis Bextor has panniers of the stuff, but you wouldn't know it from this collection of deeply ordinary songs.
"[21] Matt O'Leary of Virgin Media gave the album 2.5 out of 5 stars, but ultimately wrote that "While this is a super-glossy piece of work, it does nothing to dispel the image of Sophie Ellis-Bextor as making club music it's OK for your mum to like.
Music gave the album 6 out of 10 stars, writing "All in all, though, Trip the Light Fantastic stumbles short of the disco sublime it tries so hard to invoke.
[26] (* – additional production) Ellis-Bextor originally planned to embark on a 14-date concert tour beginning on 14 August and ending on 5 October 2007.
[4] Ellis-Bextor was also said to have had plans to also tour Ireland, continental Europe and Australia to support the album and promote the singles around the world.