The California crew leans away from its stoner leanings without losing any of its poisonous charm, notably thanks to Josh Homme as a dark crooner.
It would be inaccurate to categorize Queens of the Stone Age as a stoner band wielding guitars as scorching as the Mojave Desert and drums as blazing as if Zeus himself were conducting.
The Californians have already shown another essential and fascinating facet of their personality: Josh Homme as a dark crooner, whispering his charms over hypnotic tracks that contribute to global warming (let’s name the timeless Make It wit Chu and Mosquito Song, almost twenty years old).
A Seedy Saloon Backroom Atmosphere
On the nine tracks of their ninth album, Perfecth, the Americans fully embrace this mindset in the vein of their recent project at the Catacombs of Paris. Acoustic guitars take center stage here, recreating an atmosphere of a seedy saloon backroom where a worn piano, haunted choirs, and ragged violins sometimes join the revelry.
The singer and lyricist took charge of co-producing the whole thing with the band’s bassist, Michael Shuman. The result is a true enchantment, feverish and suave at once, from which one only emerges at the explosion of decibels at the end of the closing Run Away from the Mob, which builds up slowly with refrains that nod to Smalltown Boy, leading to a devastating volcanic eruption – the band’s moment to show that it hasn’t said goodbye to its savagery, like a pack of big cats temporarily tamed.
Notes of Unimaginable Height
The other electric forays (including the glam and danceable Sunday, worthy of Bowie, which they reclaim after having gifted it to Iggy Pop a few years ago) pair with the threat that brews beneath the façade of sweetness.
Country singer Nikki Lane comes in to respond to the great Homme on the tender single Easy Street. The other preview, Insignificant Other, a sprawling nearly six-minute track released last August, remains one of the finest achievements, particularly thanks to its bridge where the frontman hits notes of unimaginable height.
He can also be proud of Phantom Limb with its casually elegant melody that stirs up trouble and lodges itself in our heads for good. The title Perfecth aims to underline the beauty of imperfection, but Queens of the Stone Age delivers a work conjugated to the pluperfect.
Perfecth (Matador/Wagram). Out on October 30.
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