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Riviera received positive reviews from critics. Lydia Wei of
Pitchfork described the album as "scuzzy, brooding, and obsessed with open roads and Californian archetypes", as well as being "a clearer definition of the Hellp’s own vision". Wei highlighted "Moog-style synths [twinkling] like intermittent neon signs spotted from the highway" on "Cortt", and described the chorus on "Here I Am" as "braindead yet deliriously addictive". Wei also found "Meridian" to be a standout, highlighting its "unexpectedly earnest, saccharine pop-rock chorus". However, she was slightly critical of "Doppler", finding it to be "so muted and lowkey you fear it could put someone to sleep behind the wheel". Georgia Evans of
NME highlighted "cinematic electronics" as well as the Hellp's "knowing, self-aware swagger" on the album, overall describing it as "Dillon and Lucy walking a tightrope between persona and vulnerability". She described "Country Road" as having a "sense of desperate isolation", while finding "New Wave America" and "Cortt" to "widen the album’s sense of spaciousness". She also found "Doppler" to be a "glimmer of hope" within the album, and highlighted a "slow-burning maturity" on the closing track, "Live Forever". James Mellen of
Clash compared "Live Forever" to the band's viral track "Ssx", finding that the two share a similar "evocative and sentimental nature". Mellen also described an "anxious piano motif slowly culminating in a sober pop-rock chorus" on "Meridian", and called the song a "true highlight" for the band.
Anthony Fantano of
The Needle Drop was more critical in his review of the album. While he enjoyed the "chill beats and cerebral lead vocals" as well as the lyrics on "Country Road", and found "Pray to Evil" to have the most "hit potential" out of every song on the album, overall he found the quality on
Riviera to be "very middle of the road". He criticized the lyrics on "Modern Man", finding them to sound "weirdly off the cuff", and also found "Live Forever" to "[fail] to muster up a recognizable or memorable hook" despite its repetition. He was also critical of "Meridian", describing it as having "a lot of different ideas and it's not really sure which one of them it wants to do", and called the track's vision and progression "a complete mess". Despite these criticisms, however, he did find the album to show some potential. ==Track listing==