It was released as the lead single from his 17th studio album, Post Pop Depression (2016), on January 22, 2016.

[2] The song received critical acclaim from music critics and peaked at number 136 on the French Singles Chart and number 26 on the Billboard Adult Alternative Songs chart.

Evan Minsker of Pitchfork awarded "Gardenia" the site's "Best New Track" tag, commenting that "'Gardenia' is partially hypnotic thanks to the dreamy, trembling guitar drone, which sounds like something off mbv.

His voice, ever the weighty and authoritative instrument, is given space to exist on its own, which is important for his poetry here.

He's always exuded this dual nature of being absolutely charming—smiling, genteel—but behind those kind eyes is the former junkie slimeball that rolled around in glass.