Its accompanying music video, directed by Ace Norton, incorporates stop motion and shows Jones in various miniature settings.

[a] Its musical style received frequent comparisons to works of composer Kurt Weill and singer-songwriter Tom Waits,[b] while Dan Aquilante of the New York Post compared it to Louis Armstrong's early recordings.

[6][14] Nick Cowen of Drowned in Sound further insinuated that the song was directed to George W. Bush, then-President of the United States,[5] while Robert Christgau, writing for Rolling Stone, speculated that the lyrical content referred to Hurricane Katrina.

Staff of Los Angeles Times emphasized the song as a testament to Jones becoming "an entirely different singer, with an edgy tone and an animated personality".

[16] Writing for Entertainment Weekly, Sia Michel also praised the song, labeling it as a "catchy hobo-cabaret jam",[6] while Elizabeth Newton from PopMatters complimented its "sassy, mourning" trombone instrumentation.

[20] It was shot in one day in November 2006, at an industrial strip south of downtown Los Angeles, and incorporates special effects and stop motion.

[20] The music video for "Sinkin' Soon" begins with various household items in a darkly lit utility room assembling themselves into Jones's backing band.