Queens of the Stone Age - "In Times New Roman..." (2023)

It's been 6 years since the last QOTSA record, Villains, in which a lot has happened in the world and in Josh Homme's life personally. Grieving the deaths of several friends and battling cancer himself (which he has since recovered from), all while undergoing a messy divorce; Homme was simply not in the mood to make music. The last point I want to dig into a little further, as it's important not to gloss over difficult topics and 'separate the art from the artist', particularly when this album is clearly shaped by the divorce. Josh's ex-wife Brody Dalle (frontwoman of punk band The Distillers) filed for divorce citing Homme's drug and alcohol usage. During the divorce proceedings she accused Josh of violence towards their children and filed a restraining order on their behalf them, which was subsequently overturned. Josh has now sole custardy of the children and it has been reported that Dalle's current boyfriend forged the restraining orders, however Josh has a history of violent and aggressive behaviour while under the influence so it wouldn't be the hardest thing to imagine - it might just be the case that Josh is the more famous of the two and can afford the better lawyers. I doubt we will ever get the full story, but it's certainly not happy families.

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

David Bowie - "The Man Who Sold the World" (1970)

Going further backwards in David Bowie's discography, 1970's The Man Who Sold The World is generally considered by fans to be the first Bowie record that is worth listening to all the way through. It's the first time Bowie played around with a harder blues rock sound, and combines with some interesting songwriting to produce a fun album, even if it doesn't have the same impact as some of the blues rock classics from that era or Bowie's later exploration of the sound on Aladdin Sane.

The record opens with one of the heaviest and dramatic tracks, the 8 minute The Width of a Circle. The prog-tinged tune flirts with themes of psyche and spirituality and feels deliberately cryptic and intense. Bowie's creative juices really start to get going on this song. The title track is also one of the most ambitious tracks on the record, and one of Bowie's first truly god-tier songs. The weird vibrato effects on Bowie's vocals really emphasise this creepy, dystopian character who controls the world from the shadows like some sort of Bond villain. The whining guitar also makes the track feel very sinister. Saviour Machine is build around this bouncy flamenco-like guitar groove, but slows down the pace for the chorus and solos, making the track feel very dynamic. Bowie's exaggerated vocals talk about the idea of computers controlling the world and becoming our 'saviour machines'. He sells the idea as something so dystopian, which is engaging to look back on from the 21st century where we can't live without technology.

The other tracks are more straightforward blues rock songs. They're all a good time if they do feel a little like Cream or Led Zeppelin-Lite. I think the derivations from other artists feels a lot less intrusive here than on Hunky Dory, due to them all being clearly inspired from the same genre; as opposed to the one-off homages on Hunky Dory. She Shook Me Cold could fit right on Led Zeppelin I, and is quite a fun time, as is the more folky Black Country Rock and Running Gun Blues.

Comparing The Man Who Sold The World to Hunky Dory; TMWSTW is certainly more consistent in style and overall quality, but lacks the spectacular highlights of Hunky Dory (outside of the title track). So overall I feel I enjoy both records about the same, but for different reasons.

Top Tracks: The Width of a Circle, Saviour Machine, She Shook Me Cold, The Man Who Sold the World

7/10

Hozier - "Wasteland, Baby!" (2019)

I was initially incredibly disappointed by this record. Hozier's 2014 self titled debut was this intensely soulful release, packed full of blissful highs and deep, dark lows with a very twisted and sinister imagery regarding lust, religion and death. Last year he also dropped a great teaser EP for this release titled Nina Cried Power, so I was expecting good things from this. Although I feel the record is better than my initial reaction to it, it is not without its flaws which do bog down the enjoyment for me.

The album opens with the title track of last years EP, a stomping protest song featuring excellent vocals from the incredibly talented Mavis Staples. While I did really enjoy the song when I first heard it, over the subsequent listens of the EP and album I feel like I have got all I can out of the song and there's nothing new it can give me. I think this is probably due to the vagueness of the lyrics making it feel like it isn't really saying anything I can get behind, besides the general 'let's inspire people!'. The next track, Almost (Sweet Music), is where the problems start to show. The tune is this light, upbeat, poppy one; which in itself is fine. However the bass and drums are so overdone in the mix that it sounds somewhere in-between some kind of Ibiza club tune and one of those annoyingly ear-wormy Shaun Mendez singles.

This kind of awkward commercialisation of Hozier's style is rampant in the first half of the record. Movement is this album's attempt at the dark, brooding, building single (a la Take Me To Church). However this song feels so pristine and manufactured, without any of the sinister imagery which made those moments work on the first album. It sounds like someone trying to imitate Hozier's style without any of the nuance. The only truly great moment on the first half is No Plan, a slick song with a groovy bass about just living life and not worrying about a plan. Hozier's vocals soar above this effortlessly cool tune. All the edgeless commercialisation comes to a head in To Noise Making (Sing), a track about as cringily twee as a Train song.

Luckily after this point the album really regains some footing, and while not every song is a complete smash, there is a consistent level of quality the record maintains. Every song is at least decent. Highlights include the back to back folk due of As It Was and Shrike, and Dinner & Diatribes. As It Was is moody and dark, whereas Shrike (also featured on the Nina Cried Power EP) is much more relaxed. Both tracks are simple and restrained, allowing Hozier's soulful lyrics to shine. Dinner & Diatribes, on the other hand, is loud and frantic. The rising and falling guitar line and pounding drums give this tribal vibe to the track. I love the little synth melody which follows the last line of the chorus in this call and response style. It really adds to the intense atmosphere of the track. The album closes out with the title track, a quiet tune about two people falling in love in the midst of the apocalypse. Hozier's voice is buried in vibrato, making him a feel a subtler part of the track than usual. It's a hopeful note to end the record on.

Wasteland, Baby! is a strange album. It is so front-loaded with overproduced, commercial songs; and yet the the back half is consistently good. You can honestly feel the shift at the half way mark. Removing the radio-tailored nothing tracks would have made it a more enjoyable (and less bloated) listen.

Top Tracks: No Plan, As It Was, Shrike, Dinner & Diatribes, Wasteland, Baby!

6/10