In the past few days, Josh Homme has appeared on two extremely different new songs, Shania Twain's "Faded Blue Jeans" and Mastodon's "Snakes For Dinner." Now, his band Queens Of The Stone Age return with a surprisingly gorgeous and non-heavy new single called "Easy Street," which doesn't sound anything like "Faded Blue Jeans" or "Snakes For Dinner." Perhaps Homme has more range than we realized.
Queens Of The Stone Age debuted "Easy Street" last year, on the opening night of their Catacombs tour. It's their first new track since the release of their 2023 album In Times New Roman..., and it features vocals from the veteran alt-country singer-songwriter Nikki Lane. (Back in 2022, Homme appeared on Lane's song "First High.") "Easy Street" is a starry-eyed psychedelic track about an unhealthy relationship, and its lyrics are going to raise some eyebrows: "Violence is never the answer, you say/ I question how he's not been punched in the face/ I'm not like that anymore, been dead a long time/ I don't believe in luck, so you can have mine."
I'll have to figure out how I feel about those lyrics later. My initial impression is that Homme really sings his heart out on this one. Here's what he says in a press release:
It’s kind of a funny song. It’s like hitting your funny bone, where it’s funny because it hurts and it hurts because it’s funny. You’re serious, but it’s funny.
We made it the way you’d make a demo. No click track, mistakes left in. It speeds up, it slows down, the claps aren’t great, but they’re not bad, and a bad clap adds this human thing you can’t fake. It’s not just about silliness. It’s about understanding the imperfection of your life. The song, like your life, is in the mistakes. Its imperfections are unbeatable.
Tony Wolski, leader of the Armed, co-directed the "Easy Street" video with Christopher Gruse. It opens with an ecstatic slow-motion shot of a bloodied Homme fleeing down a suburban street, pursued by a mob of colorful characters. Later on, Diedrich Bader from The Drew Carey Show makes a cameo that's cut short. Great video! Check it out below.
"Easy Street" is out now on Matador. QOTSA's big stadium tour with Foo Fighters kicks off 8/4 in Toronto.
