‰ÛÏThe title Villains isn‰۪t a political statement. It has nothing to do with Trump or any of that shit. It‰۪s simply 1) a word that looks fantastic and 2) a comment on the three versions of every scenario: yours, mine and what actually happened‰Û_ Everyone needs someone or something to rail against‰ÛÓtheir villain‰ÛÓsame as it ever was. You can‰۪t control that. The only thing you can really control is when you let go."‰ÛÓJoshua Homme
Hundreds of epic shows, memory lapses, unexplained injuries, one yearlong detour with Iggy Pop and multiple Grammy nominations later, Queens Of The Stone Age re-emerge from the desert newly scarred and somehow strangely prettier with lucky seventh album, Villains.
Produced by Mark Ronson and co-produced by Mark Rankin and mixed by Alan Moulder, Villains is the first full album offering from Queens Of The Stone Age since 2013‰۪s ‰Û_Like Clockwork åÊgave the band its first #1 album in the U.S. Like the stunning artwork of returning illustrator Boneface, the sonic signatures of the line-up that took ‰Û_Like Clockwork åÊaround the world and back are as unmistakable as ever, though coexisting with sufficient new twists to induce recurring double takes. As Homme himself puts it, ‰ÛÏThe most important aspect of making this record was redefining our sound, asking and answering the question 'what do we sound like now?' If you can‰۪t make a great first record, you should just stop‰ÛÓbut if you can make a great record but you keep making records and your sound doesn‰۪t evolve, you become a parody of that original sound."
Of his role working within such a closed and confident ecosystem as Queens Of The Stone Age, Ronson says, "Queens are and have always been my favourite rock n roll band ever since I walked into Tower on Sunset and bought Rated R in the summer of 2000, so it was incredibly surreal to be welcomed into their secret, pirate clan‰ÛÓor the ‰Û÷jacuzzi‰۪ as Josh likes to call it. There were moments during the making of the album in which I was aware I was watching my musical heroes craft something that was sure to become one of my moments on any Queens album. And to have some part in that felt like being in a dream--a very heavy, dark, wonderful dream.‰
Long-time Queens cohort co-producer Mark Rankin added, "After the baptism of fire that was ‰Û_Like Clockwork, I was excited to get into the studio again with the challenge of pushing the sound for this record, especially with the addition of Ronson into the creative mix‰Û_ What we‰۪ve made is forward looking yet unmistakably Queens."
LP - indies-only (different artwork- green - initial pressing only)
Deluxe LP -åÊheavyweight tipped-on sleeve, with 180g vinyl, plus 14 art prints (initial pressing only)