To the surprise of Queens Of The Stone Age fans everywhere, Josh Homme premiered a brand new track during a rare solo acoustic gig last Monday night as part of Meltdown Festival.
The London event, curated by UNKLE’s James Lavelle (a previous Homme collaborator), saw the frontman performing a selection of QOTSA material (alongside bandmate Troy Van Leeuwen) as well as a few choice covers (of Johnny Cash, Dean Martin, and Mark Lanegan with the singer himself), as Antiquiet reports.
The real treat however was the airing of a previously unheard song, with the very Homme-esque title ‘Villains of Circumstance’, and one punter in the back rows had the wherewithal to whip out their smartphone and film the new tune. You can watch the YouTube footage below – the picture’s pretty uninspiring but you can hear the song very clearly.
The origins of the acoustic track are currently pretty vague; it’s unknown if it’s a tune that never made last year’s Like Clockwork… album, a leftover, or something entirely new. Homme has been working on new material, but as previously reported, he’s turning his attention towards making the new Eagles of Death Metal album before launching into a new QOTSA LP.
One thing’s for sure – even stripped back from the glamorous stomp of his band, Homme’s got a helluva lot of talent.
View ‘Villains of Circumstance’, along with the full Meltdown Festival gig setlist, below.
Josh Homme @ Meltdown Festival, Monday 16th June – Royal Festival Hall, London
Setlist:
‘Long Slow Goodbye’ (Queens of the Stone Age song)
‘Memories Are Made of This’ (Dean Martin cover)
‘Villains of Circumstance’
‘Dark as a Dungeon’ (Johnny Cash cover)
‘Mosquito Song’ (Queens of the Stone Age song) (with Troy Van Leeuwen)
‘I Never Came’ (Queens of the Stone Age song) (with Troy Van Leeuwen)
‘One Hundred Days’ (Mark Lanegan cover) (with Mark Lanegan)
‘Hangin’ Tree’ (Queens of the Stone Age song) (with Mark Lanegan)
‘Bad Boy’ (Marty Wilde cover) (with Troy Van Leeuwen)
‘The Vampyre of Time and Memory’ (Queens of the Stone Age song) (with Troy Van Leeuwen)
‘Kalopsia’ (Queens of the Stone Age song) (with Troy Van Leeuwen)
‘Into the Hollow’ (Queens of the Stone Age song) (with Troy Van Leeuwen)
