Billboard editor Michael Paoletta praised Carey 's return to her core audience . He said that although Carey might have alienated her hip @-@ hop followers from her previous three albums , her older fans from the 1990s would be more receptive to the material and her new image . Kelefa Sanneh from The New York Times wrote that the album " is generally pleasant , although it 's not always exciting , and a few of the collaborations go awry " . He called Carey 's voice " invariably astonishing " , and said that " she can hit high notes that barely sound human " , praised her versatility , and wrote that she " also know how to make a hip @-@ hop hit by holding back and letting the beat shine . " Ethan Browne of New York slated the album 's whimsical chimes and tinkling keyboards , and wrote , " Was Charmbracelet recorded in a Casio shop ? This instrument need to be stopped . "