If you’re a fan of Queens of the Stone Age, you’re probably a veteran of the waiting game. With six years passing since Villains, there was no choice but to learn to sit in the shadows for a while. Fortunately, what’s on offer is In Times New Roman…, their eighth studio album and possibly their heaviest meal yet. It is time to feast!
Complete with ten tracks and what feels like an endless set of drama, trauma, and heartbreak, In Times New Roman… documents Josh Homme’s side of the story and all of the emotions felt between the initial shock and the eventual acceptance. It is sonically, lyrically, tragically brutal, but has the mental strength to meet the light beyond the darkness.
The first taste of new Queens came in the form of ‘Emotion Sickness’. The lead single released in May reintroduced us to their brand of heavy riffs and wonky grooves. Settling fans back into the flow. But what was unexpected was the acid-tongued lyrics that cut through this familiar ground. With the context surrounding Josh Homme and his ex-wife Brody Dalle’s divorce already public by the time the single was released, the suggested references hit a little harder.
Anger and disappointment burst out of the noise as lyrics such as “Gotta vacuum all the perfume, yeah/hit the lights/keep your chin out of sight” are delivered in a way that makes you feel the seething rage. It fits in with the grimy, backstreet aesthetic of the record but also makes way for some of Queens most expansive, biggest breakdowns yet. The chorus floods light on the industrial verses, welcoming falsetto and additional harmonies as vulnerability comes into the mix. “Baby don’t care for me/had to let her go” is so simple yet all you need to make it sound effective. I think it was the perfect choice for lead single, as it highlights the general feel of the album too.
‘Obscenery’ kicks off the record with a sleazy guitar riff that revels in its bravado. It welcomes us to rock bottom with rigid grooves that flick off casually dropped fuck this’s throughout its chorus. It’s a victory lap of Queens’s best traits, but heightens them to the max, and even throws in a string section that somehow becomes its most haunting part. The layers feel purposely off-kilter, challenging us to find the sweet spot.
‘Paper Machete’ is the most cutting (pun) track on the record. Housing the brunt of the anger with some seriously dangerous lines throughout. Guitars fly by in a flash and bury the vocals enough to make you lean in, making the reveals of “You speak lioness and damsel in distress so fluently/Does your every single relation end in pain and misery?” pierce through your own skin. Making way for ‘Negative Space’ – my personal favourite at this moment – which lets aggression go to project heartache and sadness in amongst its crunchy guitars. “Oh, betrayal it tears me up inside/I’m just a fool who is terrified”.
Things take a turn for the dance as ‘Time & Place’ enters. As the hornier version of ‘Misfit Love’, it really retains a lot of the robot rock and rigid grooves that were prevalent on Era Vulgaris. Little additions of noise build a seriously catchy sound, striking the hips hard. Paired with Homme’s falsetto and drawling harmonics, it’s up there with ‘Smooth Sailing’ as the sexiest song out of this trilogy of records.
‘Carnavoyeur’ is an interesting point as it feels like it tips the overall feel of In Times New Roman… from aggressive into acceptance. All of the context of legal battles and health issues envelop every lyric heard here. Whether in a literal or emotional sense, “nothing/nothing left inside” never fails to hit hard. With the building guitars and excellent melodies, the simple chorus of “When there’s nothing I can do, I smile” is genuinely one of the best moments on the record, and QOTSA’s discography in general.
The nine minutes of ‘Straight Jacket Fitting’ is a defiant descent into admitting you need help and crying out to be saved. It’s packed with punishing guitars and a chainmail-heavy rhythm to deliver a clunky beat that is unrelenting. Josh’s vocals are at their most passionate here – surging through all ranges to give off one of his best performances yet. It is nothing short of excellent, and the closing acoustic section leads nicely into the events of Villains, kicking off into ‘Feet Don’t Fail Me’ to head down another road of boundary-pushing exploration once again.
In Times New Roman… is a detailed account of the fall towards rock bottom, realising you’re still alive and hitting each branch on the slow crawl back up. It is shrouded in darkness, but as always, QOTSA manage to find beauty in the darkness. Smiling in the face of having no plan b is probably humanity at its most raw. This is a record that proudly displays its scars and provides excellent songwriting along the way. In a trilogy that comes in reverse, somehow it all makes sense. Queens of the Stone Age are the greatest band of all time.