The album was preceded by one single, "Jazz Hands", which was released on October 13, 2021, alongside a music video directed by Rob Shaw.

[1][2] The artists began working in this album in early 2020, as Aesop was processing the death of a close friend, the skateboarder Kurt Hayashi.

This origin influenced the title of the album: Aesop has stated that he sees parallels between the field of garbology and the idea of "picking up the pieces after a loss or period of intense unrest."

[3] A PopMatters review praised Aesop's rapping on Garbology as "sound[ing] on fire in a way he hasn't in years," with lyrical content characterized as "surrealistic, funny, and sometimes downright haunting".

[5][1] The Stereogum review placed less emphasis on the minimalism, however, instead identifying the album's main musical motifs as "deep grooves and cymbal-splashes and squelchy guitars" that were reminiscent of "junkyard blues".