In Times New Roman... follows this turbulent period and is evidently shaped by it, being quite a brooding and jaded record following up on the themes of the impermanence of the world and the people in it established on 2013's stellar ...Like Clockwork. The record as a whole feels much like an amalgamation of Queen's work since Lullabies To Paralyse. It has the sinister and creepy atmosphere from that album, Era Vulgaris' wonkey and weird production, the themes and art rock elements from ...Like Clockwork, and even incorporates some of the glam rock camp from Villains.
Obscenery sets the scene with scrappy guitar led verses leading into cinematic string-laden choruses. The chunky, lopsided production of the song leads you into the albums uneasy and distrustful world, always keeping you just a little bit on edge. This leads into the thrashing rager of Paper Machete. The track is the simplest on the record, being a straightforward alt rock banger akin to some of the bands big hits from the naughties. Time & Place plays with dual time signatures and results in a super groovy and driving tune that spirals into a hypnotic trance. Carnavoyeur is the big cinematic centrepiece of the record, with spooky synths, dramatic vocals and soaring strings. What The Peephole Say is the most tongue in cheek song on the record. It's a cheesy glam throwback song and is just an absolute blast. It would probably fit more at home on Villains with how much lighter it is compared to the rest of the album, but its just so much fun. The record cumulates with its 9-minute behemoth closer, Straight Jacket Fitting. The song encapsulates the albums atmosphere perfectly, progressing through a messy and stumbling first section into a swaggering blues rock second part which slowly phases into a dramatic and anthemic string-backed third portion before circling back to the wonky and uneasy first part, before a final moody acoustic guitar passage closes the album out.
Even the weaker tracks on here have some really interesting ideas and moments that I love, even if the whole tracks don't fully come together. Negative Space has a great chorus reminiscent of the ones on ..LC, as does the lead single Emotion Sickness. "People come and go on the breeze / For a whole life? Possibly..." is one of the best lines on the whole record. Sicily is an incredibly dynamic song with a really creepy atmosphere and only really needs a bit more of a memorable hook to draw me in. And finally, Made to Parade is quite a sluggish plodding song (clearly emulating a parade march) and doesn't do much for me, until about 2/3 of the way through it changes key into its climax, which hits like a truck and I absolutely love.
In Times New Roman... is another good record from Queens, who's releases never really dip too much in quality. Its broody and sinister, and a little bit cynical and definitely hits the mark for me as a whole package. Not every individual moment is the best the band has ever been (both Songs for the Deaf and ...Like Clockwork take a lot of beating), but is still a really solid record on the whole. And the circumstances surrounding the creation of the record are also worth discussing, as regardless of what the truth of what happened during the divorce, there is a longstanding culture of sweeping problematic issues under the rug, particularly involving established rockstars with a legacy and influence (Go look up the 70's LA "baby groupie" scene). Anyway, that's a bit of tangent - the QOTSA album is good.
Top Tracks: Obscenery, Paper Machete, Time & Place, Carnavoyeur, What The Peephole Say, Straight Jacket Fitting
7/10
