"Milk" is a song written and produced by American alternative rock band Garbage from their self-titled debut studio album (1995).

[5] In North America, "Milk" was released alongside album cut "Supervixen" as part of a dual-single strategy to build upon the momentum built from the success of previous single "Stupid Girl".

Within an hour, they had set up a mic in the control room, Vig programmed some drum loops, Marker played bass and Erikson fired up the mellotron.

[9] Manson had told the rest of the band [when she joined Garbage] that she was a songwriter, but the truth was that she had little input in the songwriting team that formed the core of her previous band: "As the lead singer, I was left most of the time with coming up with the melody and the licks," Manson remembered, ""Milk" was obviously augmented by the rest of Garbage, but the melody and the words are mine".

[10] She was inspired by a line in Michael Ondaatje's The Collected Works of Billy the Kid ("her throat is a kitchen") and alluded to it in her lyrics for the song.

The band performed a headline concert at New York City's Roseland Ballroom in mid-April 1996 and were joined at the aftershow by English trip hop musician Tricky.

[16] Internet rumors abounded that the session had been a disaster, with the band's audio engineer claiming the results were not as expected, and that Tricky himself had been difficult to work with.

The band eventually put out a press statement to deny the rumours stating that the session had in fact gone well, the rework of "Milk" was still a work in progress and that further production by both Tricky and Garbage was required.

[28] In North America, Almo Sounds enacted a dual-single release strategy; "Supervixen" would go to alternative radio, followed by "Milk" at Triple A radio stations[29] However, only "Milk" would be commercially released to retail,[30] a cassette single initially, followed by the CD single a week later, both backed with the new versions and a Rabbit in the Moon remix.

[7] Despite this resistance, in January 1997, "#1 Crush" hit number one on the alternative charts in both the United States and Canada;[36][37] and gain modest traction at Top 40 radio.

Christophere sampled sounds from various sources, such as Pink Floyd, Kraftwerk, Madonna, Plastikman, Portishead and musical cues from Monty Python and Halloween in his mixes.

These were limited to 500 copies each and were packaged in a die-cut embossed card sleeve (one leather look, one gravel, one rippled), each with a different Dayglo colour inner jacket to identify which mix it is.

[5] In May 1997, Mushroom pressed a set of four remix 12-inch vinyl (one each of "Queer" and "Stupid Girl", and two of "Milk") to record stores in plain black card sleeves.

[46] In a review of the debut album for Kerrang!, Paul Rees called "Milk" an "elegant hymn", adding that "impressive and evocative of Ridley Scott's vision of the dark, decaying cityscape of future Los Angeles in Blade Runner.

[47] A year later, the same publication reviewed the "Wicked Mix", stating "a bristling, brilliant reworking of the album track... an inspired fusion.

"[48] Jackie Hayden, in an album review for Hot Press, told readers to "pay attention to the "Strawberry Fields Forever"-keyboards which float in to make fleeting appearances".

magazine declared the track the album's highlight, writing ""Milk", a song SexKylie would die for, is an indie-"Confide In Me" that soars ever upward in its frosty majesty".

[51] "A divinely spooked, penumbral beauty", wrote Sharon O'Connell in her Melody Maker album write-up, "["Milk" recalls] Julee Cruise's work with Angelo Badalamenti".

[54] Pippa Lang, in a review for Metal Hammer, referred to the subtle strain of sadness within songs such as "A Stroke of Luck" and "Milk", describing them as "beautifully melancholic pieces of trancey tragedy".