News: Queens of the Stone Age announce new album ‘Perfecth’ ahead of Australia and New Zealand tour

Queens of the Stone Age have spent three decades crafting a sound known for its crooked, strange, and occasionally sleazy qualities. Their upcoming ninth studio album, ‘Perfecth’, is set to release on October 30 via Matador Records and Remote Control Records. The announcement includes the track ‘Insignificant Other,’ the second single from the album, featuring Nikki Lane. Recorded in just two takes, the song captures the band playing loose, embracing spontaneity over studio perfection, and reflecting themes of distance and disorientation after relationships change or fade. This idea underpins the broader concept of ‘Perfecth,’ an album exploring various forms of love and the aftermath of relationships that fracture or disappear. Produced by Josh Homme alongside bassist Michael Shuman, the album features contributions from Troy Van Leeuwen, Dean Fertita, and Jon Theodore, completing the current Queens lineup. Sessions took place across multiple locations, including New Orleans and Los Angeles, resulting in nine songs that deliberately resist a single mood. A central theme is inspired by the Japanese art of kintsugi, where broken pottery is repaired with gold, celebrating the cracks as part of the object’s history. Queens apply this philosophy to ‘Perfecth,’ incorporating the fractures of life, relationships, and the band’s own evolution into the record rather than attempting to hide them. The title itself, ‘Perfecth,’ breaks the word ‘perfect’ into ‘Perfecth,’ reflecting the band’s rejection of clean edges and embrace of imperfection. ‘Perfecth’ follows the 2023 album ‘In Times New Roman...’ and arrives during a busy period for Homme, who has also collaborated with Shania Twain on ‘Faded Blue Jeans’ and contributed guest vocals to Mastodon’s ‘Snakes for Dinner.’ For fans in Australia and New Zealand, the album launch is followed by a headline tour later this year, part of a wider tour that includes Japan and Singapore. The shows will conclude their current North American stadium dates with Foo Fighters, with further 2027 headline dates still to be announced. Queens of the Stone Age appear to be embracing the band’s unique, unconventional sound, channeling the accumulated contradictions and imperfections into their music.