The Doctor Came at Dawn is the fifth album by Bill Callahan (under his "Smog" moniker), released in 1996 on Drag City.[9][10] It was re-released in Europe in 2001 by Domino. Callahan's occasional creative partner, Cynthia Dall, appears on the album.[11]
Uncut wrote: "A dark collection of songs, admittedly, but arguably it marked the maturing of Callahan as a songwriter."[12] The Cleveland Scene wrote: "Spare and bitter, its songs conjure closed scenes that hum and bleed with intense sensory details."[13]The New Rolling Stone Album Guide wrote that Smog's "plaintive tunes and self-parodic misogyny both hit new levels."[7]CMJ New Music Monthly called The Doctor Came at Dawn "the bleakest, saddest album of 1996."[14]NME ranked the album at fortieth in their list "Darkest albums ever: 50 of the best."[15]