Similarly to "Promised You a Miracle" and "Glittering Prize", "Someone Somewhere in Summertime" has received positive acclaim, praised by AllMusic's MacKenzie Wilson for its ability for "tapping into internal emotion". A Rolling Stone review in 2003 described the "lush" and "erotic" song as one of the album's strongest and more "tuneful" tracks. A Q magazine special in January 2005 stated the song as opening New Gold Dream (81–82–83–84) in "magisterial fashion. Charlie Burchill's Edge-like guitar descended across Mick McNeil's textured keyboards, creating a ravishing sense of wonder." Cash Box praised the way the music and the words fit together, with the "barren mood mirrored by stark guitar work and synthesizers" supporting the lyrics about the singer looking for someone with whom "to share his solitary psychic state."
