author: Tasty E-zine (U.K.)
Indeed, ‘Sweet and Twisted’ is just about a perfect title. The first piece of warped genius is only two tracks in and is called ‘All Night Bookstore’ … if you want to lose yourself in album for there quarters of an hour, then you’ll be hard pushed to find a better one than this. Bennett relies heavily on story telling, although I wouldn’t want to be a character in one of his tales, and like all the best records, there is a healthy dose of self-loathing at work here. I think it’s one of the best albums of its kind I’ve ever heard. Buy it.
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author: Matt Fink, All Music Guide
Picking up where he left off, Craig Bennett is still tuned into cooly textured singer/songwriter pop, underpinning his songs with drama and picturesque poetics. …Bennett lines his songs with odd references and cleverly detailed narratives that unravel unpredictably through his uniquely elastic arrangements… Bennett has the ability to eerily evoke classic era Bowie, while exuding an almost mocking self-possession... the album suggests a dreaminess with the blending and pairing of textures, yet snaps the listener back into Bennett's story world with the evocative and blunt nature of the songwriting. Delivered with a disquieting matter-of-factness ...Gorgeously sweet melodies are paired with downright nasty sentiments ... overall, an album born of unique vision and voice that more than lives up to its title. — Matt Fink
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author: Mandy Shekleton, Slendid E-zine
Sweet and Twisted's off-kilter confessionals and character sketches are charming for their Idiosyncrasies...The self-effacing lyrics, too, are charming as hell without ever becoming precious… He goes on about all these girls he's known or wanted to know or didn't feel like knowing anymore, and it seems like no one's ever sung about girls before. It's sweet and self-mocking and slightly-grumpy enough to be incredibly likable...When the eponymous lead character of "Nancy" complains that he "was nothing but a 'pop poet' and (his) shows were boring", it's telling about both her and the narrator; Bennett may think of himself as just a "pop poet", but “Sweet and Twisted” reveals his potential to be much more.
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