THE DROP
Queens of the Stone Age have announced their ninth album, *Perfecth*, out October 30 via Matador, and dropped lead single "Insignificant Other" *‡§. The interesting part: Josh Homme co-produced it with bassist Michael Shuman, and the record was stitched together from multiple recording sessions in several cities since 2023's *In Times New Roman…* *‡.
WHAT TO KNOW
- Nine tracks: "It's Only Love," "Insignificant Other," "Where The Goth Girls At?," "Mono," "From The Cliff," "Sunday," "Easy Street," "Phantom Limb," "Run Away From The Mob" *§.
- "Easy Street," out last month, lands at track seven and features Nikki Lane *‡.
- Stereogum describes "Insignificant Other" as funky and blues-leaning, heavy on organ, with Homme up in his higher register — Revolver calls it hazy †‡.
- The album takes inspiration from kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery ‡.
- QOTSA resume the stadium run with Foo Fighters September 15 in Regina, with Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Singapore dates this fall *¶.
THE TAKE
Homme says "Every song sounds like it's from a different world" *‡§, which is either the most exciting thing about this record or the thing that keeps it from cohering — and the multi-city, multi-session assembly cuts both ways. Organ-forward, blues-leaning funk with Homme singing high is a real swerve from the sludgy claustrophobia of *In Times New Roman…*, and the kintsugi framing suggests he's not hiding the seams this time. Worth noting: after a decade of outside producers, he's now sharing the desk with his own bass player.