Sweet About Me its own, rather than stiffly wearing its '60s influences like a pair of slightly-too-small cuban heeled boots [similar to that of Duffy]." Mark Reid of "The New Zealand Herald" described the track as "incredibly catchy". The song was classed as an obvious highlight on "Lessons to Be Learned" by Colin Polonowski of The Digital Fix. Andrew Cock of The Dwarf said that "Sweet About Me" is as catchy as ever and will continue to receive wide public acclaim. Cock noted, "At times this song seems so sweet it oozes honey, feeling deliberately boppy." Cilmi's vocal performance on the song was
Sweet About Me lyrical ideas. While the song was being crafted she was influenced by rock bands Kings of Leon and Jet, "I wrote with [Xenomania] who are totally different to me and came from a totally different musical background, they had worked with a lot of pop acts before and at the time I was listening to a lot of Jet and Kings of Leon, so when both our ideas met we came up with something pretty good." Musically, the song has been compared to Amy Winehouse's 2007 single, "Rehab", for their similar composition, soul and swing musical influences. Nick Levine from