Over the past five years, Josh Homme has battled cancer and fought a high-profile battle with his ex-wife Brody Dalle over custody of their three children, among other issues that have in pieces [son] old life,” the Californian singer told the magazine. Revolver, adding that the last few years had been the darkest of his life. But it also represented the emotional springboard that led to the creation ofIn Times New Roman…the eighth album from the band that put stoner rock into the public eye at the turn of the millennium.
We keep here some elements brought by the producer Mark Ronson on Villainsbut returning to draw the raw energy that characterizes the first albums of the band from Palm Desert.
From the start, Obscenery relies on a funky bass, a battery that breathes deeply, letting the waves of the guitars pass which grill the molecules of the ambient air. the mighty Paper Machete follows with its jerky chords and the tangy guitar of Troy Van Leeuwen which reminds us of what Queens of the Stone Age did best 20 years ago. Time & Place is another good song, the stubborn guitar accentuating the polyrhythmic signature, helping to establish a danceable mood that is unnerving all at once.
But the most beautiful find is certainly Sicily, where the falsetto voice of Homme floats above the crackles of the guitar which lead to a flight of tight strings, the guitars and the bass completing the construction of the almost diabolical atmosphere of this superb piece. As for Emotion Sickness, his remarks may well express the same malaise, but it is also the expression of a renewal. The light is also perceptible in the music, very much in tune with the groove established in the latest QOTSA records, but with guitars that burst in the face. The final Straight Jacket Fitting is ambitious and superbly put together, in the style that the band gave us on…Like Clockworka nice conclusion to an album that we promise to listen to often, even if it does not err on the side of originality.
Extract of Paper Machetefrom Queens of the Stone Age
Rock
In Times New Roman…
Queens of the Stone Age
Matador Records