It features three tracks originally written prior to Springsteen's 1973 debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N. J.: "If I Was the Priest", "Janey Needs a Shooter" and "Song for Orphans".

[19] Apple Music hosted Letter to You Radio, a channel where Springsteen interviews fellow musicians such as Brandon Flowers, Dave Grohl, and Eddie Vedder,[20] along with political discussion from guests such as Jon Stewart.

Club gave the album an A rating, calling it "one of the finest achievements of Bruce Springsteen’s career" for the songwriting's profound look at loss and the fact that listeners can hold up "nearly any track as a microcosm of its overall scope".

[38] Writing for the Associated Press, David Bauder has a mixed take on the material, noting how it's ironic that the composer of "Glory Days" spends so much time looking back and while Springsteen "is not, by any means, a nostalgia act", between this album and his Broadway show, his current output "is less about pulling out of here to win than pulling back in to appreciate what he has"; the review praises some songs but notes that Springsteen sometimes slips into cliché.

[39] In The Wall Street Journal, Mark Richardson considers Letter to You a concept album about music's ability to give life meaning and points out how it closes a chapter on Springsteen's career.

[42] Sam Sodomsky of Pitchfork scored Letter to You a 7.4 out of 10, noting that Springsteen acts as a narrator on the album, "observing the ways that music can sustain us, with a tone pitched between deep reverence and loss... That simple but elusive power forms the thematic heart of the record, and it also informs the sound.

[45] The album is "eloquent" according to Ken Capobianco of The Boston Globe, who called the record "a celebration of life and a reminder of how rock ’n’ roll can help transcend grief and loss".

[46] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian named this the Album of the Week, giving it three out of five stars and tempering his review by calling this "a scaling down of ambition" but nonetheless a success.

[47] The publication devoted a second review from Kitty Empire who declared it her album of the week, with four out of five stars and calling it a "sledgehammer" of succor for its ability to process emotions of grief and providing uplift.

[48] Carl Wilson of Slate gives a positive review but asks "how many Bruce memoirs are too many" in light of Springsteen's recent stage show and book, noting that "songs that are fine on their own simply feel like they’re making the same point the one a couple of tracks ago did".

[58] Springsteen had no particular plan for Zimny's narrative or scope for the filming, but the duo decided on black-and-white early on in the process to reflect a "perfectly gray New Jersey day".

[59] The wintertime photography from Danny Clinch and the film's visual appearance as a common metaphor for themes in the lyrics, "which are reflection of the past and some of the spirituality that you find in the music".

[60] IndieWire's David Ehrlich reviewed the documentary, characterizing it as a "rockin' meditation on death" which is also "an upbeat portrait of someone who isn't going anywhere, even when he leaves us"; he gave the film a B rating.

[65] CNN's Brian Lowry considers the movie a "Valentine" from Springsteen to his bandmates and their fans with "warmth and nostalgia [that] forges a link between the past and the present".

[66] NME supplemented their coverage of the album with another review by Leonie Cooper of the film, calling this a "grief-stricken contemplation on the fragility of life" that has pristine musical performances.

[67] Newsday's Robert Levin gave the film four out of four stars, calling it "joyful... magical and, yes... life affirming", noting that the album is also Springsteen's best in years.

[74] This made Springsteen the first solo artist with a chart-topping album in the United Kingdom across five decades[75] and fell to fourth place the following week.