Eventually serving as an outlet for the less personal material of prolific Bay Area songwriter (author, filmmaker, and visual artist) Sonny Smith, Sonny & the Sunsets merge influences like early rock, psychedelic pop, country, and Jonathan Richman with an Internet-era D.I.Y. aesthetic. Following several solo Smith releases throughout the 2000s, Sonny & the Sunsets made their full-length debut with 2009's Tomorrow Is Alright. The band continued to issue tuneful, freewheeling sets throughout the 2010s, sometimes alternating with Smith solo LPs. In a diversion that was still recognizably Sonny Smith, the Merrill Garbus-produced Moods Baby Moods from 2016 took inspiration from '80s new wave and funk. Likewise, 2021's New Day with New Possibilities leaned heavily into acoustic country without obscuring Smith's '60s pop proclivities, which were front and center on 2023's Self Awareness Through Macrame.