The Constant received generally positive reviews from music critics. At
Metacritic, which assigns a
normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an
average score of 63, based on 11 reviews. Joe Vogel of
PopMatters praised the album as "a worthy and promising debut", dubbing it "a young album that avoids certain risks [...], but there is a vitality and ambition to it that is rare and refreshing for pop music."
The Daily Telegraphs Lucy Jones referred to the album as "a well-crafted and impressive debut" and wrote, "Although the album doesn't quite ignite, Sumner's innate talent shines through." Heather Phares of
AllMusic concluded that the album "has enough strong moments to make it a promising debut from a group with plenty of confidence, personality and potential." Ian Gittins of
Virgin Media found that Sumner "has spectacularly inherited
her father's idiosyncratic musicality, with her husky, masculine tones and mannered whoops and yowls illustrating that she has paid close attention to her dad's vocal repertoire." Louisa Emery of
The Wharf expressed that "Coco has created an album that shows she is more than a over privileged kid playing popstar, even if it will do little to shake off her Sumner stigma." Ben Weisz of
MusicOMH noted that "
The Constant isn't exceptional, but it does demonstrate a sophistication which sets her apart from the
twee pop of some of her rivals."
The Guardians Caroline Sullivan viewed the album as "essentially a mildly promising debut by an artist who can write a tune but not yet with any great distinction." At
NME, Alex Denney described "Caesar" as a "good-ass pop tune", but stated that "for the most part
The Constant boils down to a thin chart gruel, too lumpenly pitched between the
Carling Academies and the cattle-grid nightclubs to leave a mark." Neil Condron of
Clash characterised the album as "[p]redictably pristine, ultimately inessential".
The Observers Killian Fox argued that "the album ends up feeling oddly flat. We are left with a sense of excitement unfulfilled." ==Track listing==