Entertainment Weekly Joey Nolfi described "Sour Candy" as an "epic collaboration" and "a mouthwatering serve". Michael Roffman from
Consequence of Sound called it "another banger" from Gaga saying it proves
Chromatica "will bring the party to our
pandemic." Claire Shaffer from
Rolling Stone deemed it "a sugar-sweet club track for all our
at-home parties, while
Variety Jem Asward highlighted it is "a sparkling combination of the two artists' styles". Zoe Haylock of
Vulture praised the song for having lyrics that could "basically all be Instagram captions", and considered it strong pop. Kristen S. Hé from the same outlet added that Blackpink's vocals, "sweet yet full of attitude", play off Gaga's earthy tone atop a sleek, catwalk-ready house beat. Louise Bruton of
The Irish Times called it "the perfect mix of weirded-out pop and euphoria". Patrick Ryan of
USA Today considered the "sultry" track the strongest of the three collaborations on
Chromatica. Stephen Daw of
Billboard commended "Sour Candy" for giving each participant "equal, well-balanced time", though he felt that something was missing that "could have rounded out" the song. In contrast, Michael Cragg of
The Guardian argued that it "falls disappointingly flat" and sounds like "a dashed off, cheaply produced interlude". Sal Cinquemani of
Slant Magazine dismissed it as "empty-calorie", and Evan Sawdey of
PopMatters considered it one of the album's "lesser songs", albeit "blissfully short". Adam White of
The Independent described the track as catchy but criticized its "sparse house beat" and "limp metaphorical lyrics about being hard on the outside but soft in the middle", likening it more to a Katy Perry single than something meeting Gaga's usual standard. Katherine St. Asaph of
Pitchfork deemed the track "sassy enough" but felt it was "out of place" on the album, Both Asaph and Hautman noted that the track feels derivative, pointing to its similarity to other pop songs built on the same Maya Jane Coles sample. == Commercial performance ==