Sunshine at Midnight earned largely mixed reviews from music critics. Margeaux Watson, writing Entertainment Weekly, gave the album a B rating and noted: "Anderson lacks Beyoncé's polish, but her raspy voice has a street-smart edge that evokes early Mary J. Blige. The first half of Sunshine at Midnight is packed with rump-shakin’ fits of fury, while slow jams dominate the latter. Anderson’s talent is fully grown, but her infatuation with thugs — and their underwear — is a juvenile distraction."[2]Billboard found that "earnest tunes permeate" the album and added: "Whether blaming a longtime partner for consuming her time or reveling in true love, Anderson sounds determined to send a message. While her shrill soprano pipes won't bowl you over, her candor surely will."[5] David Peisner from Spin called the album a "snarling comeback."[4]
AllMusic wrote that Anderson's "second album, imaginatively produced with a wide range of hip, grainy-sounding beats, deals with the tough realities of relationships, in songs as varied as the grittily realistic "Problems," "Switch It Up," superficially about romance gone stale but more concerned with turning a life around, and the galumphing "Trust," whose mutant beat buffers a tale of deceit. Anderson never leaves any doubt who's in control, though she can still turn on the erotic softness in silk-sheet jams like "Force of Nature"."[1] In a negative review, Mike Joseph from PopMatters concluded: "While R&B divas like Jill Scott and Alice Smith add witty lyrics and musicianship to their soulful vocals, Anderson seems content to be the patron saint for the girlfriend of every lie-detector-test-taking cheating man on The Maury Povich Show. With an album this lackluster, it’s safe to say that this Sunshine Anderson will be quickly slipping into darkness."[3]
