Queens of the Stone Age are again with their first recent music in practically two years. The band has launched the brand new single “Simple Road” through Matador Data, marking its first authentic tune since 2023’s In Instances New Roman…. Followers first acquired a style of the observe throughout final yr’s Catacombs tour, the place it rapidly grew to become a favourite forward of its official studio launch.
Produced by Josh Homme and bassist Michael Shuman, “Simple Road” embraces imperfection fairly than polish. Constructed round acoustic guitar, psychedelic synths and an deliberately unfastened rhythm part, the track additionally contains a visitor vocal from Nikki Lane, whose gritty efficiency performs off Homme’s smoother lead. For now, it’s unclear if “Simple Road” can also be meant for Queens’ subsequent studio album.
The accompanying “Simple Road” video, directed by Tony Wolski and Christopher Gruse from a narrative conceived by Homme, follows the singer as he makes an attempt to outrun a colourful forged of pursuers — together with his personal bandmates — earlier than delivering a twist that celebrates the outsiders typically neglected.
“It’s form of a humorous track. It’s like hitting your humorous bone, the place it’s humorous as a result of it hurts and it hurts as a result of it’s humorous. You’re critical, however it’s humorous,” Homme says. “We made it the best way you’d make a demo. No click on observe, errors left in. It hurries up, it slows down, the claps aren’t nice, however they’re not dangerous, and a foul clap provides this human factor you’ll be able to’t pretend.”
He continues, “It’s not nearly silliness. It’s about understanding the imperfection of your life. The track, like your life, is within the errors. Its imperfections are unbeatable.”
The only arrives a yr after QOTSA documented one of the crucial unconventional performances of their profession. The band’s Alive within the Catacombs live performance movie captured Homme, Shuman, Troy Van Leeuwen, Dean Fertita and Jon Theodore performing deep beneath the streets of Paris within the metropolis’s famed Catacombs. Stripped of amplification and surrounded by the tunnels’ thousands and thousands of human stays, the efficiency reworked songs from throughout the band’s catalog into stark, intimate preparations, with Homme describing the challenge as years within the making.
Queens of the Stone Age has reveals opening for System of a Down in London and Warsaw this week earlier than returning dwelling for a North American stadium run with Foo Fighters, beginning Aug. 4 in Toronto. The band additionally lately introduced its first Iceland efficiency since 2005, set for Oct. 24 at Reykjavík’s Laugardalshöll, with extra headline dates in Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Singapore anticipated to be introduced quickly.
