The album received positive reviews from music critics, who celebrated the record's mature sound, and his autobiographic and introspective lyrical content. The album was considered a qualitative big step forward from his previous album 31 Minutes to Takeoff.
Background
Mike Posner released his first single in two years, "The Way It Used to Be" in June 2013, and announced the release of his second album Pages.[5] In October 2013, Posner said in an interview with Billboard: "I've made maybe over 100 songs since the last album, so I've got a good 12, 15 I'm proud of."[6] A second single featuring Big Sean, "Top of the World" was released in December 2013.[7] In March 2014, Billboard reported that Pages would be released later that year, but the release never materialized. Instead, Posner released the extended play, The Truth in June 2015 on Island Records, featuring four tracks later featured on At Night, Alone.[8]
"I Took a Pill in Ibiza" was released as a single on July 24, 2015, and found international success in a remix by Seeb. In August 2015, Posner said that he had recorded two albums (Pages and Sky High) since his debut album, 31 Minutes to Takeoff (2010), which were both shelved by his former label RCA Records because "they didn't have a hit".[9][10]
Posner said country singer Jake Owen encouraged him to "tell the truth" in his songs" and showed him artists like Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard, which made Posner realize that "you can just literally say the truth and it’s beautiful, and it’s heart-wrenching and it’s funny".[11][12] The album is inspired by country music according to Posner: "So, like, the way I was inspired by hip-hop when I first started and would sort of sing hip-hop, this new (music) is kind of my take on country music. It doesn't sound country and no one uses the word country to describe it, but it's me trying to do country and it comes out weird and different."[11]
Singles
"I Took a Pill in Ibiza" was first released on Mike Posner's extended play, The Truth, on June 22, 2015.[13] The remix version by Seeb was released on July 24, 2015.[14]
Promotional singles
"Be as You Are" was released as promotional single in the United States on July 26, 2016.[15] On February 17, 2017 a remix of "In the Arms of a Stranger" by Grey was released as promotional single.[16]
David Jeffries of AllMusic noted an improvement for Posner in the album, writing, "This might not yet be the ultimate showcase for his talents, but At Night, Alone is both a welcome return and a significant step forward." Jordan Simon of Idolator wrote, "Posner on the album places his bets as pop's 'born-again' countryman," calling the album "not a pop jamboree. It is truth in advertising, an album exclusively optimized for solitude spent immersed in deep thought." Gwilym Mumford of The Guardian wrote, "Some curios apart—the a cappella revolutionary hymn 'Only God Knows' and rowdy folk-punk of 'Jade'—there is little here that lingers long in the memory, with only Posner's braggadocio and pinched vocals distinguishing him from the singer-songwriter crowd."
