Is This What You Want? add backing vocals to "Dear Prudence" in late August; he had also joined the backing chorus for "Hey Jude" earlier that month. The songs recorded included "Sour Milk Sea" and "The Eagle Laughs at You", for the A- and B-side of Lomax's debut single on Apple, and "You've Got Me Thinking". Among the guest musicians on the London sessions, much of which would go unused, were Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Nicky Hopkins, Klaus Voormann and Paul McCartney. Other participants included drummers Bishop O'Brien and Pete Clark; the former was part of Apple artist James Taylor's backing group, while Clark was
This Is What the Truth Feels Like number 56 before dropping off the chart the next week. In Japan and South Korea, it peaked at numbers 74 and 75, respectively, despite Stefani's promotional efforts in the former country. During a midyear report of albums released in 2016, "Entertainment Weekly" critics ranked "This Is What the Truth Feels Like" at number 11; a selected review by Greenblatt reads: "Loves lost and found provide the twin poles for Stefani's gorgeously honest chronicle of a very complicated year—and inspired some of her most purely satisfying pop songs in years." "Newsday" also ranked it in their midyear list at number 16.