Song of the Week - 06/06/13 - Queens Of The Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork

Queens of the Stone Age  ...Like Clockwork

This is the first new QOTSA album since 2007's Era Vulgaris. Since then the band had been on hiatus, from 2009 to 2011 working on side projects and new bands, Josh Homme with Them Crooked Vultures and Dean Fertita with Jack White's The Dead Weather. The band has seen a change in lineup with drummer Joey Castillo having left meaning that Dave Grohl returns to play drums on the majority of the album reprising the role he played on Songs for the Deaf. 

The album also features a number of guest appearances by the likes of Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys, NIN's Trent Reznor, UNKLE's James Lavelle and goddamn Sir Elton John! According to Wikipedia Sir John got in touch with Homme saying he needed an "actual queen" on the album. Here's the full list of appearances plus the corresponding track list (from wikipedia):

Guest appearances (tracks they appear on): 

Dave Grohl – drums, percussion (3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9)  

Joey Castillo – drums, percussion (1, 2, 3, 6)   

Jon Theodore – drums, percussion (10) 

Nick Oliveri – vocals (4, 7) 

Mark Lanegan – vocals (4, 7) , lyrics (7)  

Alex Turner – vocals, guitar (4) , lyrics (6) 

Trent Reznor – vocals (6, 7) 

Jake Shears - vocals (1) 

Elton John – piano, vocals (7)

Brody Dalle – vocals 

Alain Johannes 

Tracklist: 

1."Keep Your Eyes Peeled"
2."I Sat by the Ocean"
3."The Vampyre of Time and Memory"
4."If I Had a Tail"
5."My God Is the Sun"
6."Kalopsia"
7."Fairweather Friends"
8."Smooth Sailing"
9."I Appear Missing"
10."…Like Clockwork"  

These brilliant yet kind of eerie animated music video promos created by Boneface and Liam Brazier were released early last month in anticipation of the new album. Viewed as one complete short film (as below) they tell the story of four so far nameless characters and feature excerpts of 4 tracks from the album plus the entirety of the single My God is the Sun. Think the Gorillaz but with blood and violence. (Be sure to watch it in HD!)

If I had to pick one song for my song of the week as the title of the blog stipulates then it would probably have to be I Appear Missing, with its hauntingly beautiful vocals and a vintage QOTSA catchy chorus.

"Calling all comas, prisoner on the loose, description:
The spitting image of me,
‘Cept for the heart shaped hole where the hope runs out
Shock me awake, tear me apart
Pinned like a note in a hospital gown
Prison of sleep, deeper down
The rabbit hole never to be found... "

The lyrics seem to tell the story of Josh Homme's anguish at being bedridden for some four months due to complications following routine knee surgery in 2010. Homme is said to have gone into a deep depression and this dark mood can certainly be seen in the ...Like Clockwork album.

It may be too early to tell but I would rate this album as one of the my favourites of 2013 so far. You can judge that for yourself...

[Sources - Wikipedia, Youtube, Spotify, Google]