We are neither turned on nor off by this.

[Video]
[5.22]

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: Basic, but perfectly executed. 
[6]

Al Varela: We’ve gone from TikTok reviving old songs into newfound virality into artists just remaking music they would have made four or five years ago. Granted, I always did like Charlie Puth’s redemption album, Voicenotes, but I don’t understand what makes “Light Switch” that much more stand-out than his previous songs like “Attention” or “How Long.” Honestly, even if I took this song at face value and accepted it as its own thing, I don’t have much to hold on to. The hook isn’t especially catchy, the wobbly synth doesn’t work as a melodic foundation, and the tempo is inconsistent and doesn’t give the song a consistently catchy hook. There are a couple of decent moments, but overall it just rings to me as the industry trying to sneak in another Charlie Puth hit after “Stay” blew up. Have fun with it, I guess.
[5]

Alfred Soto: He still sings as if gargling a carpet, and he gives cliches the same, uh, attention he does his okay looks on social media. I don’t intend condescension. Like Tame Impala, he would’ve ben an indie hero in another era, recording modestly tuneful synth jams by himself. Charlie Puth wants to stay top of the heap, though, hence the pro forma keyboard effects and dumb lines requiring three other writers. Maybe I underestimate his selfies.
[5]

Nortey Dowuona: Charlie’s drums are fast yet not strong, barely holding his weak, plaintive voice aloft as the bass and synths lumber along. The stops pirouette and backflip, exposing Charlie’s voice and by the last pirouette it has landed face first in the ground.
[4]

Edward Okulicz: The first three times I heard this song were all in the same place — on the radio while my physio manipulated a pinched nerve in my shoulder. There was no back announcement, and I was agitated and confused, so I just assumed that The Weeknd was now making full use of his imperial phase and tossing off any old song to Nick Jonas, because how many other people would think that falsetto is a good idea? My complaint is thematic, not technical here, to be clear. Puth, who can take all the blame and credit for this, actually almost makes it work, though, the light switch gimmick is cute and the song is catchy. But the falsetto gives it the sound of small scared boy hiding in the dark, not man getting turned on by sexy lady. 
[7]

Kayla Beardslee: I really did enjoy Voicenotes, but I’m starting to think that Charlie Puth needs to stop singing his own lyrics and start giving his best production efforts to other people for a while. To me, most of the Voicenotes songs just barely managed to land on the palatable side of sleaze (in large part carried by the Hey-Charlie-Puth-is-good-now production), but all of his singles since have given off at least mildly questionable vibes, and the music hasn’t been compelling enough to justify it. Wait a minute, we gave “Attention” a [3.71]? What the hell, guys! I don’t know, maybe I’m just more attuned to his attitude than I was in 2018.
[5]

Katherine St Asaph: I genuinely cannot tell whether the “light switch” is intended to be innuendo. Such is the deterioration of my critical brain. Otherwise it’s fine, Bieber minus the attempts at dramatics.
[5]

Joshua Lu: It’s entertaining how Charlie Puth markets himself as some kind of pop savant  — perfect pitch! Berklee education! produces his own music! — while exclusively making whinging songs about how women won’t date him. “Light Switch” is one of many decent “Blinding Lights” reduxes that have inundated pop radio, just with the depth of a cum sock.
[5]

John S. Quinn-Puerta: While I’ve missed Charlie Puth’s falsetto, “Light Switch” is missing a certain swing that was present throughout Voicenotes. It’s just a bit too paint by numbers, missing a messiness that made Puth a little more real. It’s fine, I suppose.
[5]