"Exter possesses a breathy, ethereal singing voice that is reminiscent of Rickie Lee Jones and the Cowboy Junkies Margo Timmins. Elevator Ride is full of enchanting tales of scorned women, the Deep South, and intoxicating tropical nights, with Exter's voice creating alternating senses of narcotic tranquility and tragic nightmare ... Basically, if you don't like this album, then there's something wrong with you."
- Ethan Kanat, BreakThru Radio (7/06)
"On her début album, 'Elevator Ride,' Bronwen Exter's voice is like a warm mist capable of obscuring all of life's problems."
- John Donohue, The New Yorker (9/06)
"A beautiful woman with a lush voice sings the songs of Jonathan Spottiswoode. Got a problem with that? I didn't think so. ... I love it loads."
- Jon Worley, Aiding & Abetting (10/06)
"…local standout Bronwen Exter, a singer with a warm and all-enveloping voice."
- John Donohue, The New Yorker (2/07)
"OK, picture this: Lou Reed and Astrud Gilberto have a baby. She's raised by the band Mazzy Star until the age of 16, when she falls in love with James Bond and runs away to Argentina. Got it? The soundtrack for this story is the music of New York resident Bronwen Exter. Hypnotizing you with her husky, half-whispered vocals, she'll thrill you with the mixture of samba, tango and NYC cool, and entice you with lyrics about dreams, pain and roads from the moon to the sun. To the instrumental foundation of bass, drums and guitar, Exter adds organ, piano, trumpet and saxophone. The work of songwriter and producer Jonathan Spottiswoode is evident in the offbeat yet refined sound. From the refreshingly eccentric lyrics to the creative arrangements, Elevator Ride will be a trip your ears will want to take again and again."
- Mare Wakefield, Performing Songwriter (Top 12 DIY Pick in PS's 100th issue, 3-4/07)
"New York vocalist Exter possesses a rich, breathy voice, and on this disc she applies it to fourteen songs written by pop dramatist Jonathan Spottiswoode. As a good interpreter should, she uncovers a new perspective on the material, her haunting voice echoing with obscure emotional implications. With the smooth-rock backing, it's something like an old Chris Isaak disc, providing a blurred but pleasing melancholy."
- Joel Sparks, On Tap Magazine (4/07)
"Delightfully dark lounge sweetness."
- Tim Perlich, NOW Toronto (Critic's Pick for NXNE Festival, 6/07)
"The down-tempo songs of 'Elevator Ride'—highlighted by Exter's husky, reverb-heavy vocals—are noir-tinged, ethereal and spare."
– Natasha Li Pickowicz, Ithaca Times (6/07)
"Now based in New York, Exter recently released an excellent CD, 'Elevator Ride.' It's full of hip, noir-ish songs that ooze atmosphere and sensuality."
– Jim Catalano, Ithaca Journal (6/07)
And my personal favorite, from a website called Losingtoday, with thoughts on my Science for Girls track:
"The purring lilt of Bronwen Exter's vocals. . . this shyly unfurling babe flirts in the same ethereally breathless skylines as Le Man's 'Aqui vivia yo' right down to the arresting corteges of Ibon Errazkin like dulcet acoustics themselves deliciously braided by the wintry flugelhorn wraps - a perfect example in case you ever needed one of pristine teasingly tenderised pop. More please."