 John Murphy of "musicOMH" called the song "rather nice" and appreciated its lyrical content, although he commented that "it does sound like Stefani covering a Keane song".Alex Miller of "NME" complimented Rice-Oxley's involvement in "Early Winter" and singled it out as "one of the few potential hits" from "The Sweet Escape".Mark Pytlik of "Pitchfork" picked "Early Winter" as one of the highlights from the album and favoured Stefani's vocal delivery, noting that the song "proves that Stefani still has the ability to elevate an otherwise ordinary rock song to another level".