Guitarist Stone Gossard said, "Andrew encouraged me to play this little harmonic, acoustic part almost like a Cure melody.
"[4] Spin compared the song's sound to that of Tom Petty, while Rolling Stone likened Vedder's vocal performance to Bruce Springsteen.
[4][5] Eddie Vedder wrote the lyrics to "Wreckage" about the "desperation" of former United States president Donald Trump.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, Vedder said: "There is a guy in the United States who is still saying he didn't lose an election, and people are reverberating and amplifying that message as if it is true.
It features a live performance of the song filmed during the band's May 16, 2024 concert at Las Vegas' MGM Grand Garden Arena.