Sundowner was written at Morby's home in Kansas where he lives with his partner Katie Crutchfield, and which they nicknamed 'The Little Los Angeles'.[1][6] The album was recorded in January 2019 with producer Brad Cook at Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas.[1] In the meantime, Morby released his fifth studio album, Oh My God (2019), and went on tour in support of it. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Morby and Cook put the finishing touches on Sundowner from their respective homes.[7]
In an essay announcing the album, Morby described the album as his "attempt to put the Middle American twilight—its beauty profound, though not always immediate—into sound."[8]
Release
Sundowner was announced on September 1, 2020.[9] The album's first single "Campfire", was released the same day.[10] "Don't Underestimate Midwest American Sun" and "Wander" were released as singles on September 23, 2020.[11] "Sundowner" was released as a single on October 7, 2020.[12] The album was released on October 16, 2020 via Dead Oceans.[13]
A Night at the Little Los Angeles
On October 8, 2021, Morby released A Night at the Little Los Angeles, a collection of 4-track demo versions of the songs on Sundowner.[14] It features demos of all the songs except "Jamie", which is replaced with a demo version of Morby's standalone single "U.S. Mail".[15]
At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, Sundowner received an average score of 73 based on 12 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[17]
Fred Thomas of AllMusic wrote, "Its gentle melancholy and unhurried tempos slowly melt into a sustained atmosphere, offering some of Morby's gentlest and most captivating songs."[18] Ross Horton of musicOMH called it "Morby's Harvest Moon, his Nebraska, his Hejira – a statement of intent made in the quietest way possible."[21]
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