It is considered an influential work, with one retrospective review stating "In the half-decade since its initial release, Baker's name has become synonymous with the revitalization of ultra-personal singer-songwriters wearing their hearts on their sleeves.

[7][1][8][3][9] It is "made of sparse guitar (and piano) tunes about breakups, substance abuse, loneliness, physical and emotional pain, and enduring".

[11] "Go Home" features suicidal imagery and incorporates the hymn "In Christ Alone" and "bits of 'church radio' that accidentally fed into her preamp during recording".

[19] Gabriela Tully Claymore from Stereogum wrote that the songs were "unabashedly explicit, and Sprained Ankle discusses depression, substance abuse, and general crises of faith in detail.

"[11] It was recorded in a way that Adam Kevil from Consequence of Sound considers to be a simple format, "[Baker] alone, singing and playing acoustic guitar directly into the microphone, sometimes in a single take".

[12] In 2018, NPR selected its title track as the #156 greatest songs by a woman artist in the 21st century, stating, "Baker's gentle touch [...] evok[es] an entire world — of suffering and healing, eagerness and fear, loneliness and companionship, distance and intimacy — in its search for a more human truth.