Produced by John Feldmann, it is the first of two albums by the band to feature Alkaline Trio frontman Matt Skiba, who replaced founding member Tom DeLonge during his absence from 2015 to 2022.

After touring and releasing the band's sixth album, Neighborhoods (2011), it became difficult for the trio to record new material due to DeLonge's other projects.

The band, as well as Feldmann, would regularly spend 18 hours in the studio a day, aiming to start and complete multiple songs in that timeframe.

[4] Plans for a seventh Blink-182 album were delayed numerous times, reportedly due to guitarist Tom DeLonge's involvement in his other group, Angels & Airwaves, as well as other projects.

[8] By the time DeLonge spoke to Rock Sound in November 2014, there was still little work completed on the album: "We're just getting to that point of starting ... there's no timeline at the moment.

"[15] Meanwhile, Blink-182 performed two club shows and a slot at the Musink Tattoo Convention & Music Festival in March 2015 with Alkaline Trio vocalist/guitarist Matt Skiba filling in for DeLonge.

[17] After legal battles with DeLonge were worked out, Skiba rejoined Blink-182 as an official member, and the trio began preparations for new music in August 2015.

Feldmann, initially the frontman of the band Goldfinger, became better known for his production work with artists such as 5 Seconds of Summer and All Time Low.

[21] The group initially invited Feldmann to hear its demos, and he suggested that the band regroup at his studio the next day to make a fresh start.

[28] The trio posted their progress via their respective social media accounts during the recording, in the form of Snapchat and Instagram clips.

[26] Feldmann considered the music not a "huge departure" from the band's usual sound,[25] as hoped to make a "classic Blink record."

[39] Skiba said that at the time of writing the album, he and Hoppus were both reading books such as Dead Wake, Blood Meridian, and The Revenant, and he felt the prose impacted their lyrics: "there were a lot of rushing rivers and the whole idea of using metaphors to describe loneliness, just like settler, Native American and Southern Gothic influence of literature, that was kind of our rhyming dictionary.

Its subject matter is based around two experiences: one when Skiba was a bicycle messenger in Chicago and was struck by a car, and another a fictional story of a "drunken night with a girlfriend".

"[33] Its lyrics are themed around lost love; it emerged from an early-morning coffee meeting between Hoppus and Feldmann, who both imagined how lonely their homes would be when their children grow up and move away.

"[43] "San Diego" is centered on the band's original hometown and on a deeper level, relationships with the group's former bandmate, Tom DeLonge.

According to D*Face, the trio "wanted the artwork to represent California, but with a subversive side to show that it's not always great and there's always something under the surface, in the underbelly."

"[21] Though he refrained from dubbing it a concept album, Skiba considered the songs linked thematically: "big and bright and huge and dark and twisted, everything that California is.

[47] California was announced alongside the lead single, "Bored to Death", on Los Angeles radio station KROQ on April 27, 2016.

[61] AllMusic's Neil Z. Yeung dubbed the record "their best in 15 years," considering it "a return to form and an admirable maturation of the band's classic pop-punk sound ...

"[66] NME's Charlotte Gunn felt California "has the humour, pace, emotion and huge choruses of a classic Blink record.

[69] Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone considered it the band's catchiest music since their heyday, summarizing, "At its best, California shows Blink trying new ways to freshen up yesterday's racket.

"[67] Jon Caramanica at The New York Times found it "pleasantly familiar if not especially imaginative ... the album [is] full of songs that have achieved their purpose by the halfway mark.

Mike Damante at the Houston Chronicle said "Feldmann's style is all over the record, as most tracks sound too formulaic, similar and run together.

"[62] Nina Corcoran from Consequence of Sound was similarly negative: "When not cranking the compression on the vocals, Feldmann ruins other songs with nonstop gimmicks: the piano interludes, the stiffened handclaps, the sappy title track.

[77] The album also managed to reach higher chart positions worldwide than its predecessor Neighborhoods and outsold both its first-week and total sales in the US.

[85][86] The main tour behind California began on July 21 in San Diego and its North American leg concluded on October 7 in Irvine.

[106] The positive response to California was enveloping to the three: "As long as Blink has been around and with all the drama we [had] a number one album, we [had] the biggest tour of our career and we [had] a Grammy nomination," Hoppus said.

[107] In addition, the band's ascendance to the top of the charts signaled a larger cultural moment surrounding pop-punk music.

[108][109] During the release cycle for the LP, the band were name-dropped in the song "Closer" from EDM duo the Chainsmokers, which became a huge global hit.

[114][115][116] All tracks are written by Mark Hoppus, Travis Barker, Matt Skiba and John Feldmann,[117] except where notedCredits adapted from the album's liner notes.