Silk Sonic is an American R&B super duo, consisting of recording artists Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak. In late February 2021, Mars and .Paak announced on social media the formation of their new band, Silk Sonic, and revealed the artwork for their debut studio album, titled An Evening with Silk Sonic. They also announced the release of the first single on March 5, 2021. "Leave the Door Open" was released as the first single in various countries, with their debut album being scheduled to be released January 2022, before being changed later to November 12. "Skate" was released as the album's second single on July 30, 2021, along with its music video. The single received critical acclaim from music critics but charted moderately, reaching number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 12 in New Zealand, and topping the Israel charts. Smokin' Out the Window" was released as the album's last single to be released, releasing alongside a music video, on November 5th. On November 12th, "An Evening With Silk Sonic released. It was met with critical acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 86, based on seven reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Jon Pareles of The New York Times said that Mars and Paak "flaunt skill, effort and scholarship" and called it "a Fabergé egg of an album: a lavish, impeccable bauble, a purely ornamental not-quite-period piece. Mars and Paak don’t pretend to be making any grand statement, but there's delight in every detail."