On March 3, 2016, the band announced the expected release of their ninth full-length studio album, "True Sadness," which Seth Avett described as "a patchwork quilt, both thematically and stylistically." The album was released on June 24, 2016 and debuted at number 3 on the "Billboard" Top 200, topping the U.S. Folk and U.S. Top Rock charts, though reviews were mixed. "Entertainment Weekly" praised the band's experimentation and "willingness to tear down boundaries" while "Pitchfork" criticized the "baffling layers of synthesizers in what feels like a ploy to push the Avetts into clear Top 40 territory." The album was nominated for two awards, Best Americana Album and Best Americana Roots Performance (the album's lead single, "Ain't No Man"), at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards. On January 31, 2017, it was announced that a documentary about the production of "True Sadness", entitled "May It Last: A Portrait of the Avett Brothers", directed by Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio, would premiere at the 2017 South by Southwest film festival. The documentary was released on HBO on January 29, 2018.