<\/p>\n\n
There’s a word that Josh Homme just made up to describe where Queens of the Stone Age is right now.<\/p>\n\n
Perfect.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n It looks like \u201cperfect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n But it’s broken.<\/p>\n\n And that’s probably the best way to understand the band’s new album.<\/p>\n\n Queens of the Stone Age will release Perfecth<\/strong><\/em>on October 30, 2026<\/strong>, via Matador Records. It will be their ninth studio album, three years after *In Times New Roman\u2026*<\/em>, and will be preceded by two songs, \u201cEasy Street\u201d and \u201cInsignificant Other<\/strong>, \u201d<\/strong> which suggest that Homme has decided to turn the cracks of recent years into creative raw material. <\/p>\n\n It doesn’t seem like an album about becoming who you used to be.<\/p>\n\n It seems like an album about accepting that that’s no longer possible.<\/p>\n\n The title encapsulates virtually the entire philosophy of the album.<\/p>\n\n Homme defines it as a deliberate distortion of the word \u201cperfect<\/em>.\u201d His argument is simple: nothing in the world is truly perfect, even though almost everything tries to appear that way. <\/p>\n\n That’s when Perfecth<\/em> shows up.<\/p>\n\n Something imperfect.<\/p>\n\n Something that has been repaired.<\/p>\n\n Something that bears the marks of what happened to it.<\/p>\n\n The idea is particularly powerful given the singer’s recent journey.<\/p>\n\n In 2024, Homme had to undergo emergency surgery, which forced Queens of the Stone Age to cancel part of their tour. This came after several particularly difficult years for the musician, both personally and physically. <\/p>\n\n That’s why, when he talks about imperfection now, it doesn’t exactly sound like a marketing concept.<\/p>\n\n It sounds like experience.<\/p>\n\n Perfecth’s<\/em> second single is called \u201cInsignificant Other.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n The title alone contains a hint of cruelty.<\/p>\n\n In English, ” significant other<\/em> ” refers to an important person, a partner, or someone who plays a central role in your life.<\/p>\n\n Adding \u201cin\u201d changes it into something else.<\/p>\n\n Some nobody.<\/p>\n\n Someone who once meant everything to me and is now too far away.<\/p>\n\n Homme explained that the song is specifically about distance<\/strong>\u2014about the strange feeling that arises when a fundamental connection gradually fades from your life. <\/p>\n\n Musically, QOTSA avoids a head-on collision.<\/p>\n\n The song unfolds with a relaxed, almost seductive groove that at times brings to mind the elegance of \u201cMake It Wit Chu.\u201d<\/p>\n\n That’s a smart decision.<\/p>\n\n The music sounds calm.<\/p>\n\n The idea behind it, however, is quite different.<\/p>\n\n That contradiction has been a part of the group practically from the very beginning.<\/p>\n\n Guitars can be heavy, but they’re almost never clunky.<\/p>\n\n The lyrics may be dark, but there’s always humor.<\/p>\n\n The songs may be about self-destruction, sex, violence, or loss, yet they still have an irresistible groove.<\/p>\n\n “Perfecth<\/em> ” seems to be built on that very tension.<\/p>\n\n The album was recorded in Los Angeles and New Orleans<\/strong>, two cities that perfectly embody the two sides of Homme’s universe: precision and decadence, control and excess. <\/p>\n\n The album was produced by Josh Homme<\/strong> himself and Michael Shuman<\/strong>, the band’s bassist. <\/p>\n\n The first sign came in July.<\/p>\n\n \u201cEasy Street\u201d<\/strong> was Queens of the Stone Age\u2019s first new song in three years. <\/p>\n\n Their release brought an end to one of the band’s longest stretches without new material and ushered in a new era that is now starting to make sense.<\/p>\n\n First, a song.<\/p>\n\n Next up, a deliberately gory teaser.<\/p>\n\n And finally, the Perfecth<\/em> ad.<\/p>\n\n The video used to promote the album showed Homme and Dean Fertita playing the dangerous game of balancing a knife between their fingers until, inevitably, something went wrong. <\/p>\n\n Excess.<\/p>\n\n Black humor.<\/p>\n\n Blood.<\/p>\n\n Pain.<\/p>\n\n QOTSA’s aesthetic remains perfectly intact.<\/p>\n\n Or maybe we should say ” perfectly<\/em>.”<\/p>\n\n The album will have nine songs<\/strong>, and the band has already confirmed the full track list.<\/p>\n\n The titles seem to have been written from Homme’s usual vantage point.<\/p>\n\n Love.<\/p>\n\n Humor.<\/p>\n\n Threat.<\/p>\n\n Desire.<\/p>\n\n Escape.<\/p>\n\n And the occasional shadow waiting at the end of the street.<\/p>\n\n One of those titles seems particularly familiar.<\/p>\n\n \u201cSunday\u201d originally appeared in *Post Pop Depression*<\/strong><\/em>, the album Iggy Pop released in 2016 with Josh Homme, Dean Fertita, and Matt Helders.<\/p>\n\n The fact that Queens of the Stone Age are bringing it back now fits perfectly with Perfecth’s<\/em> logic.<\/p>\n\n Not everything has to be brand-new to get a second life.<\/p>\n\n Sometimes all it takes is to rebuild it.<\/p>\n\n The album also comes on the heels of one of the most unique projects in the band’s recent history.<\/p>\n\n In 2025, QOTSA released *Alive in the Catacombs*<\/strong><\/em>, recorded inside the Catacombs of Paris.<\/p>\n\n The experience forced the band to approach their songs from a radically different perspective: lower volume, more space, alternative arrangements, and acoustics that practically became another instrument. <\/p>\n\n That made a big impression.<\/p>\n\n Queens of the Stone Age discovered that they could still sound menacing without always having to play louder.<\/p>\n\n Part of that feeling seems to have now spilled over into Perfecth<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n This may be what really matters.<\/p>\n\n The man who wrote *Rated R*<\/em> and *Songs for the Deaf*<\/em> no longer exists, strictly speaking.<\/p>\n\n It shouldn’t, either.<\/p>\n\n More than twenty years have passed.<\/p>\n\n Along the way, there were successes, losses, relationships, illness, surgeries, side projects, and a whole life revolving around a band that always seemed on the verge of imploding.<\/p>\n\n But here it is.<\/p>\n\n And Perfecth<\/em> seems to embrace that history rather than hide it.<\/p>\n\n Don’t try to erase the scars.<\/p>\n\n He turns them into decorations.<\/p>\n\n There’s a reason why the idea resonates so well with Queens of the Stone Age.<\/p>\n\n His music was never clean.<\/p>\n\n Even when the productions are flawless, there’s always something a little rough around the edges.<\/p>\n\n A guitar that’s a little uncomfortable.<\/p>\n\n A voice that seems to smile even as it threatens.<\/p>\n\n A battery that’s too dry.<\/p>\n\n A melody that winds its way along.<\/p>\n\n Perfection would probably have been pretty boring.<\/p>\n\n The band will then take the album on tour to venues in Asia, Australia, and New Zealand as part of a new live tour that will follow their concerts with the Foo Fighters and various festival appearances. <\/p>\n\n But first, there’s the album.<\/p>\n\n Nine songs.<\/p>\n\n A made-up word.<\/p>\n\n And an idea that seems to sum up Josh Homme’s current situation pretty well.<\/p>\n\n Things break.<\/p>\n\n People, too.<\/p>\n\n And perhaps survival isn’t about restoring them to their original state.<\/p>\n\n Perhaps it’s about learning to see beauty right where the crack is<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n That’s Perfecth<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n For Discover<\/strong>, I would use a headline that\u2019s more emotional than informative. My first choice would be: <\/p>\n\n Josh Homme turns his scars into Queens of the Stone Age’s new album: this is what ” Perfecth<\/em>” sounds like<\/strong><\/p>\n\n It has a well-known name, conflict, transformation, and something new. Plus, the album is set for release on October 30<\/strong>, and \u201cInsignificant Other\u201d has just been released, so the window of relevance remains wide open. <\/p>\n\n As an alternative with a high CTR, I\u2019d try: Queens of the Stone Age are back after some very tough years: Perfecth<\/em> turns their struggles into music<\/strong>. It\u2019s a bit more emotional and works especially well if the main image is a recent portrait of Josh Homme. <\/p>\n\nNothing is perfect. Everything can be \u201cperfecth.\u201d <\/h2>\n\n
\u201cInsignificant Other\u201d or When Someone Who Was Everything Stops Being Everything<\/h2>\n\n
Queens of the Stone Age Keep Dancing Around Disaster<\/h2>\n\n
\u201cEasy Street\u201d had already given a heads-up<\/h2>\n\n
Nine songs, no apparent filler<\/h2>\n\n
\n
“Sunday” has a history<\/h2>\n\n
After the Catacombs<\/h2>\n\n
Josh Homme no longer writes from the same place<\/h2>\n\n
Imperfection as an Aesthetic<\/h2>\n\n
On October 30, we’ll find out how much they’ve changed<\/h2>\n\n
<\/h3>\n\n