This definitely isn’t your average tribute album.
Across 12 tracks, French producer, songwriter, and guitarist Olivier Libaux re-imagines some of Queens Of The Stone Age’s biggest songs to the point of almost being unrecognisable, with a little help from a guest female vocalist on every song.
Libaux is no stranger to the realm of covers, having previously co-founded the Nouvelle Vague music project, which focused on punk rock, post-punk and new wave songs covered in the style of bossa nova.
Uncovered Queens Of The Stone Age features vocals from a wide range of talented musicians, including Emiliana Torrini, Alela Diane, and Inara George from The Bird And The Bee.
The vocals are obviously dramatically different from QOTSA frontman Josh Homme’s distinctive growling and drawling, and along with the acoustic and relaxing backing, many of the songs take on a completely new form, and it’s intriguing to see what Libaux has done with each track.
The brooding and dark third single from Lullabies To Paralyze, ‘Burn The Witch’ is transformed into a dreamy, atmospheric affair led by Clare Manchon, (of Clare And The Reasons) and without the call-and-response verses between Homme and Mark Lanegan, this interpretation is remarkably different, but still thoroughly enjoyable.
‘No One Knows’, featuring Inara George, becomes an even more sultry, mysterious ballad complemented by Libaux’s intricately crafted backing that resembles something out of a Bond movie.
The story behind this project is a rather simple one. In May 2011, Libaux asked Josh Homme for his authorisation to do a cover album of his songs, with the pitch being “your songs, but rearranged in a very personal way, in the end sounding like a quite unusual tribute album”. And that’s exactly what it is.
Homme’s response was “Fantastic, go for it and let me hear the album when you’re done”, and Libaux then contacted a range of guest musicians, and mainly created these vocals over the internet.
‘Go With The Flow’ is no longer the drum-driven hit that it was on Songs For The Deaf, with Libaux’s interpretation driven by Emiliana Torrini’s whispy vocals, the Icelandic voice behind 2009’s ‘Jungle Drum’.
Despite having a different vocalist on nearly ever track, with Libaux’s guidance and instrumentation, Uncovered works as a cohesive whole, with a dreamy atmosphere pervading every cover.
This quirky tribute album will definitely appeal to fans of Libaux’s bossa nova stylings, but lovers of Queens Of The Stone Age will no doubt find something intriguing and worthwhile in it as well.
