The song was recorded at Rancho De La Luna, Joshua Tree, California,[3] and featured in the fifth episode of the band's HBO documentary Foo Fighters: Sonic Highways.

[3] Foo Fighters' drummer Taylor Hawkins told Q magazine that he thought Walsh's guitar solo on "Outside" was the champagne moment on the Sonic Highways album.

[4] The live debut of the song was performed at London's Islington Assembly Hall on 12 September 2014, in which Foo Fighters played an instrumental version during a rendition of their 2007 single "The Pretender".

That track manages to capture some of the essence of the West Coast city, but the details of "canyons" and "sirens" seem hollow, lack insight, and reek of lyrics that were hammered out on instinct, not careful consideration".

[8] Loudwire also praised the song stating that "Outside kicks off the latter portion of the disc, with Foo Fighters managing to find the bridge between post-modern ’90s alt-rock and jangly late ’60s California harmonics".