Hesitant Alien received mostly positive reviews, and was a moderate commercial success reaching No.

Having recently signed with Warner Bros. Records, Way went on to announce the beginning of his solo career with the release of an advance-single, "Action Cat", on June 11, 2014.

[13] On September 29, 2014, Way premiered Hesitant Alien on the online platform VyRT during a listening party with album commentary.

[17] On Record Store Day 2016, Way released two exclusive, unreleased tracks from Hesitant Alien titled "Don't Try" and "Pinkish".

[28] Jason Pettigrew from Alternative Press said: "Now in his late-30s, he’s going back to the things that turned him on, pretentious ’70s glam-rock, fractured ’80s post-punk and all the English sonic conventions of ’90s Britpop and shoegazer noise", and that the album "has enough requisite cool and clamor to ensure [sic] he stays both relevant and remarkably vibrant".