At the end of 2005's Bleed Like Me World Tour, Garbage disbanded to go on a hiatus. A month later, music retailer HMV's UK website listed a "Greatest Hits" compilation for release the following year. By January 2006, the title changed to "Absolute Garbage". On November 10, a press release from Warner Music Group announced a March 19, 2007, UK release date for the album, while "NME" reported that the album would be proceeded by a single on March 5. In January 2007, Vig became the first band member to publicly confirm the project: "We've been working on ["Absolute Garbage"] for a while". On May 11, the band's website unveiled the artwork for "Absolute Garbage", and on May 22, confirmed the album's track listing, physical formats and an initial July 16–17 street date. The date was later moved back a week due to "production issues" concerning the North American DVD.