[3] Produced by Mick Harvey of the Bad Seeds, who also co-wrote most of the album's songs with Lane and played a majority of the instruments, Sex O'Clock received a positive reception from critics upon release.

Editors at AllMusic chose this as an Album Pick in Lane's discography and rated this album 4.5 out of 5 stars, with critic Stewart Mason writing that "Sex O'Clock mixes sleek, creamy, and often danceable R&B-tinged pop tunes with the sort of lyrical plain-spokenness implied by the title".

's Rob Bolton characterized this release, "upon first glance, this looks to be a potentially cheeky mainstream album, but Sex O'Clock is actually a respectably good package of slick, sultry pop".

[4] Helen Wright of musicOMH noted that while all the songs are thematically about sex, "some are smooth and sensual others chill the heart" with lyrics that are occasionally "pretty bleak, or at best bitter-sweet" as well as those which are "a bit silly, but fun all the same".

[3] In Under the Radar, Joe W. Ragusa scored this work a 7 out of 10 for being "a provocative, if less than brilliant pop piece that could shake up a few Britney teenyboppers from their stupor if it ever reached their ears".