"Blending Jack Cooper's Ultimate Painting whispered pastoral psych-folk with urban drones (the wonderfully withheld "Turbulence"), burbling motorik melodies (see "Nature" or "Footsteps") and some mellow jazz skronk, the resulting late-night mix is laser-targeted for those who have Talk Talk, The Notwist, Yo La Tengo and Clinic forever playlisted in their hearts. Fellow travellers Will Young (Beak/Moon Gangs), Aaron Neveu (Woods) and Jeff Tobias (Sunwatchers) contribute their talents to what is a confident, considered but above all gorgeous debut"

"For the past few years, in a variety of guises - most notably fronting Ultimate Painting and Mazes - Jack Cooper has been making spindly indie-rock in deference to a certain unshowy school of American lo-fi ... "How To Live" is more of a creative evolution than a total break from Cooper's previous music - he still evidently loves Yo La Tengo - but there's a quiet new clarity and purpose at play, as if he's finally located the right environment, somewhere in the lay-bys of post-urban, semi-rural Britain ... The narrow tonal range veers close to monotony at times, but there's a satisfyingly stubborn focus to the album, too, as Cooper maps a trajectory away from the city (...) towards some place closer to a haunt of ancient peace"