[3] The duo picked seven of the 305 ballads compiled by Child and recorded the album in early 2012 with Nashville producer Gary Paczosa (known for his work with Alison Krauss and Dolly Parton).

[17] Nick Coleman of The Independent called it "absolutely beautiful" and wrote that the ballads have rarely sounded this "fresh", because of exceptional playing, vibrant singing, and adorned arrangements.

[14] Pitchfork's Rachael Maddux believed that Mitchell and Hamer successfully reclaim the flatly written ballads by imbuing an unusual compassion and adding dimension to their characters.

[15] In his review for MSN Music, Robert Christgau wrote that the acoustic guitars are livened up by other instrumentation, while Mitchell and Hamer's vocals avoid both purism and modernizing flair, although the presentation of the songs is not interesting enough to sustain focus on their plots.

[13] In a less enthusiastic review, Jude Rogers of The Guardian felt that the album is more concerned with musical aesthetics than enduring material, as the originally raw ballads lose their immediacy to attractive and overproduced harmonies, singing, and guitar playing.