Goodnight Tender received positive reviews from critics noted at review aggregator Metacritic. It has a weighted average score of 80 out of 100, based on five reviews.[2] Editors of AllMusic Guide chose this as a "Best of 2014" pick, rating it four out of five stars, with critic Thom Jurek noting that Ray's "use of country music as a way of getting these songs across is not only convincing, it's compelling".[1] Writing for American Songwriter, Hal Horowitz rated this album four out of five stars, praising her experiment with genre and noting that "Ray's distinctive, always emotive voice can be tender or tough, frisky or forlorn and any combination of those, but always compliments the music and lyrics".[3] Matt Casarino of PopMatters gave Goodnight Tender an eight out of 10, writing that Ray understands the internal logic of country music and he particularly praised Ray's voice, noting that it is "deeper than ever – she’s effortless on some low notes that would give Trace Adkins trouble – but it’s also smooth and mature, with just the tiniest trace of that whiskey-nightcap rasp"[4]
