Firstly, that their forthcoming album is called ‘Villains’, and secondly, it was produced Mark Ronson. Those two things are Really Very Exciting.
Now, we’ve got all the info we could ever wish for on the record, as well as the first track to be taken from it.
‘Villains’ is set to be released on August 25th via Matador Records, and is available to pre-order now. The nine track effort is led by new track ‘The Way You Used To Do’, which you can stream now below.
“The title Villains isn’t a political statement,” explains Joshua Homme. “It has nothing to do with Trump or any of that shit. It’s simply 1) a word that looks fantastic and 2) a comment on the three versions of every scenario: yours, mine and what actually happened… Everyone needs someone or something to rail against—their villain—same as it ever was. You can’t control that. The only thing you can really control is when you let go.”
Speaking about the record as a whole, Homme reveals: “The most important aspect of making this record was redefining our sound, asking and answering the question ‘what do we sound like now?’ If you can’t make a great first record, you should just stop—but if you can make a great record but you keep making records and your sound doesn’t evolve, you become a parody of that original sound.”
Of course, that team up with Mark Ronson is hardly the most expected of turns. “Queens are and have always been my favourite rock n roll band ever since I walked into Tower on Sunset and bought ‘Rated R’ in the summer of 2000,” Ronson recounts, “so it was incredibly surreal to be welcomed into their secret, pirate clan—or the ‘jacuzzi’ as Josh likes to call it. I also knew that my super fandom alone would not keep me in the jacuzzi. There were moments during the making of the album in which i was aware I was watching my musical heroes craft something that was sure to become one of my favourite moments on any Queens album. And to have some part in that felt like being in a dream–a very heavy, dark, wonderful dream.”
Alongside the new record comes a batch of tour dates. The band will hit the UK and Ireland this November, playing shows in Manchester, London, Edinburgh and Dublin.
You can catch them at:
November
19 Manchester Arena
21 The O2, London
23 Usher Hall, Edinburgh
24 3Arena, Dublin
Tickets for the shows go on sale next Wednesday, 21st June at 9am. Check out the artwork and tracklisting for ‘Villains’ below.
01. Feet Don’t Fail Me
02. The Way You Used To Do
03. Domesticated Animals
04. Fortress
05. Head Like A Haunted House
06. Un-Reborn Again
07. Hideaway
08. The Evil Has Landed
09. Villains Of Circumstance
