Wakin on a Pretty Daze is the fifth studio album by American indie rock musician Kurt Vile, released on April 9, 2013, on Matador Records.

Produced by both John Agnello and Kurt Vile & the Violators, the album is the first not to feature contributions from long-time collaborator and former bandmate Adam Granduciel.

In 2011, Kurt Vile's fourth studio album, Smoke Ring for My Halo, was met with critical acclaim and its release significantly expanded his fan base.

Reflecting on the extensive touring schedule which accompanied the album, Vile noted, "Things were going good and people were coming to our shows, which is nice, but it's also draining.

"[7] Regarding his musical influences on Wakin on a Pretty Daze, Vile stated, "I was listening to some really disparate stuff while writing it, like there was this one Gary Numan song, "Are Friends Electric?

"[4] Vile was also influenced by music critic Barney Hoskyns' 2005 book, Hotel California: Singer-Songwriters & Cocaine Cowboys In The L.A. Canyons, stating: "You know, just getting deep into that world of artists that I like, I find exciting, but this was like the first time [I had read something] that was about the whole scene.

"[1] The album's cover photograph features a mural by Philadelphia-based street artist Steve Powers, with Vile noting, "Everybody who rides the 'EL' [elevated train line] sees it.

"[17] In another positive review, AllMusic's Fred Thomas wrote: "It becomes clear that Kurt Vile isn't aiming to ape or even update the canon of classic guitar-based songwriters, but is very much his generation's chapter of the evolution of rock.

Easily his most focused and accessible work, Pretty Daze is the strongest so far in a chain of releases that seem to suggest there are even greater heights to be reached.

"[11] NME's Hazel Sheffield wrote, "[On] Wakin On A Pretty Daze, [Vile] turns his attention to writing proper songs.

"[15] Russell Warfield, of Drowned in Sound described Wakin on a Pretty Daze as: "one of those rare examples of an artist’s uninhibited self-indulgence resulting in an LP which plays firmly to their strengths.

Referring to the album track, "Air Bud", he wrote, "A guitar-obsessed longhair who got his start self-distributing his music, Vile has let the outside in – even if a basketball-playing dog from an old DVD still proves to be his best inspiration.

"[15] Similarly, PopMatters's Robin Smith stated, "This isn’t his clearest work, nor is it his most pretty, but it’s easy to identify him as he looks inward, to see the songwriter who wants to make five different types of music.

But instead, it wanders around and around lost in a mood until he starts a verse with "crestfallennnnnnnn," like he might fall asleep before the end of the song, and you realize this whole claiming-what's-mine business is, well, not exactly what it's all cracked up to be.