Absinthe is the final recording from the band Naked City. Unlike the band's other genre-mixing releases, the music on Absinthe is consistently in an ambient and noise style. The titles of many of its tracks refer to the works of Paul Verlaine, Charles Baudelaire and other figures in the fin de siècle Decadent movement, and to the drink after which the album is named. The album's cover and liner notes feature photographs by the German Surrealist Hans Bellmer. The album was also released as part of Naked City: The Complete Studio Recordings on Tzadik Records.