"Chase This Light" received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 66, based on 25 reviews. Andy Greenwald from "Entertainment Weekly" gave praise to the band for combining the "extroverted guitar pop" of "Bleed American" and the pensive bulk of "Futures" to encapsulate what their given genre is: "big emotions, sure, but also big hooks, big stakes. And big rewards." He concluded by calling "Chase This Light" "a master class in hard rocking for the soft-hearted." Slant Magazine's Jonathan Keefe called it "a return to form for the band in terms of their ingratiating power-pop", praising the tracks "Big Casino" and "Always Be" for their instantly catchy instrumentation and melodies that make up the overall tone of the album. He added that "it isn't a stretch to say that "Chase This Light" is one of the year’s best power-pop records." "Spin" journalist Andrew Beaujon praised Jim Adkins' vocal delivery for having a "youthful tang" that sells the songs about "getting older and maybe a little more cynical." He concluded that "he joy of "Chase This Light" is hearing him convince us that it comes back again, too."