Mike Sauve of Exclaim! wrote that "the problem is that Earle's melancholy has taken primacy over his songwriting, which is uncharacteristically generic here, making this subdued and plodding release a career low."[4] Grant Golden of Paste wrote, "For all of the somber overtones to Absent Fathers, there's still plenty of hopefulness within this record... [o]ne can only hope that this landing means that he's as comfortable with self-exploration and transparency in the future as he's been on Single Mothers and Absent Fathers, because if so then the best of Earle may still be yet to come."