On the same day, Jones' cover version of "Talking Reality Television Blues", originally written by Todd Snider, was released as the album's lead single, with a music video for the song being released in conjunction. Critics mainly praised Jones' vocal ability at a late point in his career as well as the songs selected to be covered for the album. Johns had told Island Records that he wanted to work with Jones the most, and the label eventually brought the two together.

After Jones had recovered from his wife's passing, he resumed touring and continued for a few years.Additionally, Surrounded by Time was the best-selling album of the week in terms of both physical and download sales. He’s a modern Dylan, tracing the arc of popular culture through from when video killed the radio star, reality killed the video star and reality TV star Donald Trump killed reality with his “alternative facts”. Jones received a Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1966, an MTV Video Music Award in 1989, and two Brit Awards: Best British Male in 2000 and the Outstanding Contribution to Music award in 2003. The fourth and final pre-release single released from the album, "Pop Star", originally written by Cat Stevens, was released on 9 April alongside a music video.

Writing for musicOMH, Ben Hogwood praised Jones' vocals, saying that he is "expressing more emotion than he probably has at any point in his career," as well as Ethan Johns' production and the instrumental performances by the session musicians. Alongside a digital release, it received a standard double-CD release [21] as well a deluxe box set release, designed as a 7-inch gatefold package that includes a booklet and additional art cards. The album received positive reviews from critics, with much praise being directed towards Jones' vocals at 80 years of age as well as the selection of songs for the album. The announcement of Surrounded by Time came on 15 January 2021, with its release date and track listing being revealed.

The album was primarily recorded at Monnow Valley Studio in Rockfield, Monmouthshire, marking the first time that Jones had recorded music in his home country of Wales, [7] and Real World Studios in Box, Wiltshire.

The third single from the album, " One More Cup of Coffee", originally written by Bob Dylan, was released on 18 March. Afterward, Jones followed Woodward's advice and sold their Los Angeles mansion, subsequently moving to a flat in London. But it’s also powerfully about the miracle of the life we have when our desire and ability to sing can seem impossible. I’ve never heard him sounds so vulnerable as when he tremulously promises: “I will wake with you in the morning/ And I’ll stand beside you as long as I can/ I will hold back the evening of your sun/ But I won’t crumble with you if you fall.This feat also made Jones both the oldest male to earn a number-one UK album and the oldest artist ever to earn a number-one UK album with an album of newly recorded material, overtaking Bob Dylan, who topped the chart at 79 years old in June 2020 with Rough and Rowdy Ways.

The Daily Telegraph 's Neil McCormick awarded the album five out of five stars, lauding Jones' vocal ability at 80 years of age.While on his tour supporting Long Lost Suitcase, Jones' wife Linda Rose Woodward was diagnosed with cancer, causing Jones to cancel his tour dates for the foreseeable future. Jones knew Trump from the 1980s when “he used to come to my shows in Atlantic City… He was going downhill fast, but then, of course, he got The Apprentice gig and that was what set him on his path to The White House,” he explains in the press release for this album. hadn’t made him look elsewhere, Jones sings from the perspective of a man who still can’t believe his luck: “See me mama! Surrounded by Time was released through EMI Records internationally and S-Curve Records in the United States.