A smooth Joey-led song, “Ambergris” focuses on the sought after substance it’s named after. Ambergris is a waxy substance created within the intestines of sperm whales, theorized to help them digest the hard beaks of squids and cuttlefish. While often referred to as “whale vomit,” it instead is digested and excreted. Humans have used the substance to create perfume and candles, while others in the 19th century used ambergris in meals, including King Charles the II who allegedly said that eggs and ambergris were his favorite meal. Due to the whaling industry, which killed thousands of whales to try and get the substance, ambergris has been made illegal in both Australia and the United States. The song references its uses and humanity’s hunt for whales for their own desires such as the creation of whale oil, all from the perspective of a whale. It's a slow, funky song (broken by some abstract noises calling to attention the passing of ambergris through the intestines) that would become a sexy, though slightly disgusting, live song moving forward.
Recording sessions for the song appear in The Making of Omnium Gatherum. It first appears at 12:14 where Joey is listening back to the guitar parts. When asked what he’s working on, he says the song is entitled “Dog Sweat” before Ambrose calls the song “sexy as hell.” A quick clip from the same session appears at 13:46, where they react to the guitar lines. Liner notes indicate that Cavs (drums), Cook (synthesizer), Joey (vocals/synthesizer/percussion/guitar) and Stu (synthesizer/clavinet/organ) played on the song. While it was mixed and produced by Joey, it was co-recorded by Cavs. Unusually, credit for the song’s prominent bass work is missing, though Joey said that he played bass on the song during the band’s 2023 Reddit AMA. As part of a guessing game for the album’s track listing, “Ambergris” was teased with an emoji of a whale followed by an emoji of a rock on February 2nd, 2022. It was guessed by two people that same day, although one spelled it “Ambergrys.” The song was released on April 22nd, 2022. Lucas would go on to say that “Ambergris” is his favorite song on Omnium Gatherum during a Reddit AMA after its release.
The song was first played on 2022-06-14 at the Tempodrom in Berlin and would be played throughout 2022 close to the studio version, with the only notable changes being a new intro, the removal of the “farting” sounds, and Joey occasionally singing ‘Ambr-ose’ instead of the song’s title in the lyrics. It has remained in setlist rotation and is often introduced as a “sexy” song, with Ambrose referring to it as “Joey’s porno song” on 2023-03-09. It received an acoustic rendition on 2023-06-04.