"Evolution" was written by Hamasaki herself, like the rest off the "I Am..." album and produced by long-time collaborator Max Matsuura. "Evolution" was one out of twelve songs on the parent album to have been composed by her, which was first asserted on "M" after her staff failed to compose a musical composition that she had felt conformable with or suited her songs. The song's arrangement was handled by HΛL, who contributed to arranging the songs "M" and "Unite!" on the parent album. Musically, the song incorporates several genres including alternative rock and ballad music, which was heavily compared towards another album track "Unite!". The song starts with a "ballad-inspired intro" that was noted as "deceiving" and features Hamasaki "singing way too fast in her choruses"  For the cover artwork, the sleeve was shot by Shinichi Hara, art design was handled by Shigeru Kasai and was officially directed by Yasuyuki Tomita. The cover artwork features Hamasaki holding a microphone and features the text of the single name inprinted with the American flag inside it. The CD single off "Evolution" was released on January 31, 2001 by Avex Trax and was eventually released digitally worldwide. In addition towards the physical release, the single was served on a vinyl release by Rhythm Republic records in Japan, a bonus DVD release and also released a limited edition VHS tape. "Evolution" received favorable reviews from most music critics. Jeff from Random.Access.Reviews had compared both "Evolution" and "Unite!" for sharing similar music structures. He commented "["UNITE!"] brings more J-Rock to the forefront, as does ["Evolution"], eventually sounding just like each other [...]" Jeff commented that while the choruses were too fast and powerful, he did conclude "evolution" is a bit more catchy and poppy though, so I'll recommend that one." Greenberg, who had written the extended biography of Hamasaki on the same website, had listed "Evolution" as one of her career standouts. Hamasaki had hosted an online voting poll for fans to choose their favorite tracks to be featured on her Ayumi Hamasaki 15th Anniversary Tour ~Best Live Tour~. As a result, all three songs from "H" were featured on the list. Commercially, the song was a success. "Evolution" debuted at number one on the Oricon Singles Chart, which became Hamasaki's eighth number one in Japan since her 1999 single "" which became her first number one.