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In Times New Roman...
In Times New Roman...
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In Times New Roman...
Studio album by
ReleasedJune 16, 2023 (2023-06-16)
Studio
Genre
Length47:37
LabelMatador
ProducerQueens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age chronology
Villains
(2017)
In Times New Roman...
(2023)
Alive in the Catacombs
(2025)
Singles from In Times New Roman...
  1. "Emotion Sickness"
    Released: May 11, 2023[3]
  2. "Carnavoyeur"
    Released: May 31, 2023[4]
  3. "Paper Machete"
    Released: June 14, 2023[5]

In Times New Roman... is the eighth studio album by American rock band Queens of the Stone Age, released on June 16, 2023, through Matador Records.[3] It was announced in a video teaser on May 9, 2023,[6] and is the band's first album since Villains (2017).[7] The announcement occurred alongside the release of the lead single, "Emotion Sickness".[8] The band is currently touring North America and Europe in support of the record.[6][9] In Times New Roman... marks the conclusion of the band's trilogy of albums released through Matador that began with ...Like Clockwork (2013) and continued with Villains.

Recording

[edit]

The band produced the album with mixing handled by Mark Rankin, and recorded it at frontman Josh Homme's Pink Duck Studios in Burbank, California,[8] as well as at Rick Rubin's Shangri-La studio in Malibu, California.[3]

In an interview with NME ahead of the album's release, Homme spoke on how life events had an influence on the recording of In Times New Roman...:

"I think when you're dealing with the extreme ups and downs of life, you don't stop and go: 'I should really make a record.' Those things don't exist in that moment. If your roof is flooding, you don't say: 'We should make a record about this!' You have to stop yourself drowning in a flood. We recorded it probably two-and-a-half years ago, but it just sat there waiting to be finished. I didn't sing it until last November. I wasn't done living. Honestly, I was probably afraid. I wasn't ready. You need the flood to be over, and then you can decide whether you can accept the flood. I think with this being a record about acceptance, you need to actually get there yourself."[10]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.0/10[11]
Metacritic80/100[12]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarStarHalf star[13]
Classic RockStarStarStarStar[2]
The Daily TelegraphStarStarStarStar[14]
Exclaim!7/10[1]
The IndependentStarStarStar[15]
Kerrang!StarStarStarStar[16]
Louder SoundStarStarHalf star[17]
NMEStarStarStarStar[18]
Pitchfork6.8/10[19]
Sputnikmusic3.7/5[20]

In Times New Roman... received a score of 80 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on 19 critics' reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reception.[12] Thomas Smith of NME described In Times New Roman... as "a grotty listen, using pain to encourage a rawness in their sound that's been absent since 2007's Era Vulgaris" and felt that "with enough fan-service for the die-hards; this is up there with their darkest, knottiest material to date, and will be appreciated all the more for it".[18] Fred Barrett of Slant Magazine wrote that while the album "abandons the glossy dance-rock of its predecessor, it doesn't do so in favor of exploring new styles, sounds, or textures". Barrett found that the album's highlights "prove that Queens of the Stone Age can still reliably deliver left-of-center alt-rock thrills [...] but after almost three decades of taking on every strand of rock music and embracing both the analog and the digital, it's disheartening, if perhaps understandable, that the band seems unsure of where to go next."[21]

Reviewing the album for Exclaim!, Spencer Nafekh-Blanchette wrote that "the band has moved away from their roots in some regards, but remain completely the same in others", elaborating that "the new LP takes their unique alternative rock to new dimensions, swapping uptempo rock n' roll jolts for a slow-yet-unnerving new groove. It's an album that's sure to please all listeners, but only truly satisfy real fans of the band."[1] Simon K. of Sputnikmusic opined that the band have "delivered something very familiar, but with just enough new things in it to make it somewhat fresh" and that the album "seems to trade in peaks and troughs for steadfast songwriting", despite finding that there are no "top-tier tracks you could stick on the quintessential Queens playlist".[20]

Writing for Pitchfork, Zach Schonfeld called it the band's "heaviest, angriest work since 2007's underrated Era Vulgaris", and felt that "Homme chips away the chrome-plated dance-rock machinations of 2017's Mark Ronson-produced Villains and tries to restore the band to a bluesy primitivity". Schonfeld also remarked that the album's "most compelling tracks deepen the anger with flashes of humor and wry introspection" and its "best songs [...] are hiding in the back half".[19]

Track listing

[edit]

All lyrics are written by Josh Homme; all music is composed by Homme, Dean Fertita, Michael Shuman, Jon Theodore, Troy Van Leeuwen.

In Times New Roman... track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Obscenery"4:23
2."Paper Machete"3:22
3."Negative Space"3:53
4."Time & Place"4:26
5."Made to Parade"5:18
6."Carnavoyeur"3:56
7."What the Peephole Say"4:06
8."Sicily"4:41
9."Emotion Sickness"4:31
10."Straight Jacket Fitting"9:01
Total length:47:37

Personnel

[edit]

Queens of the Stone Age

Additional musicians

  • Richard Dodd – cello (tracks 1, 6, 8, 10)
  • Leah Katz – viola (1, 6, 8, 10)
  • Daphne Chen – violin (1, 6, 8, 10)
  • Eric Gorfain – violin (1, 6, 8, 10)
  • Nina McCoy – additional vocals (1)
  • Sharetta Morgan-Harmon – additional vocals (1)
  • Tenderlie Lavender – additional vocals (1)
  • Matt Helders – additional vocals (9)

Technical

  • Gavin Lurssenmastering
  • Reuben Cohen – mastering
  • Mark Rankinmixing, engineering
  • Justin Smith – engineering
  • Robert Stevenson – engineering
  • Greg White – engineering assistance
  • Davey Latter – drum technician
  • Salar Rajabnik – guitar technician, keyboard technician
  • Wayne Faler – guitar technician, keyboard technician
  • Matt Zivich – guitar technician
  • Brendan Benson – additional engineering (4)
  • David Feeny – additional engineering (10)

Visuals

  • Boneface – artwork

Charts

[edit]

References

[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia
from Grokipedia
In Times New Roman... is the eighth studio album by the band Queens of the Stone Age, released on June 16, 2023, through . The album features ten tracks and was produced by the band itself, with mixing handled by Mark Rankin. Recorded across studios including Pink Duck Studios, Shangri-La Studio, and Dumbfox Studio, it showcases the core lineup of on vocals and guitar, on guitar, on keyboards, on bass, and on drums. The album's sound is characterized as raw, brutal, and rough around the edges, yet refined, blending the band's signature and elements with heavier, more primitive bluesy influences reminiscent of their earlier work. Lyrics, penned by Homme, are witty and withering, often exploring themes of personal turmoil including , , and his battle with cancer, framed through apocalyptic imagery and a sense of rebirth for outcasts and . Standout tracks include "Obscenery"; "Paper Machete"; "Carnavoyeur"; "," which incorporates orchestral elements; and "," blending anger with humor and melody.
No.TitleLength
1."Obscenery"4:23
2."Paper Machete"3:22
3."Negative Space"3:53
4."Time & Place"4:26
5."Made to Parade"5:18
6."Carnavoyeur"3:56
7."What the Peephole Say"4:06
8."Sicily"4:41
9."Emotion Sickness"4:31
10."Straight Jacket Fitting"9:01
Total length:47:37
Upon release, In Times New Roman... received mixed to positive reviews from critics, who praised its emotional depth and return to a heavier sound—described as the band's angriest since 2007's Era Vulgaris—but noted its uneven structure, with stronger material in the latter half. Pitchfork awarded it a 6.8 out of 10, highlighting tracks like "Emotion Sickness" for their compelling mix of fury and melody, while critiquing some early songs for clunky rhymes and lackluster grooves. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard Alternative Albums chart and has been viewed as a "devastating rebirth" for the band amid Homme's challenging personal years.

Background

Development

In Times New Roman... is the eighth studio album by Queens of the Stone Age, marking the conclusion of the band's trilogy of releases on that began with ...Like Clockwork in 2013 and continued with Villains in 2017. The project represents a pivotal creative endeavor for frontman , who navigated significant personal challenges during its gestation period. Initial work on the album commenced in late 2020, but progress stalled amid Homme's and ongoing legal proceedings. In 2022, Homme faced a cancer diagnosis that required surgery, leaving him sidelined for much of the year and contributing to delays in songwriting and album finalization. Concurrently, his contentious divorce and custody battle with ex-wife intensified, with a Family Court granting Homme sole legal custody of their three children in March 2022. These events created a tumultuous backdrop, postponing substantive creative momentum until November 2022, when Homme reported feeling ready to resume and complete the material. Homme has described the album as a deliberate shift toward a raw, primitive rock aesthetic, contrasting the more polished, groove-oriented production of Villains, which was helmed by . This return to unrefined energy stemmed from Homme's desire to channel personal turmoil into visceral, unadorned sounds following years of introspection and recovery. The core band lineup—Homme on guitar and vocals, on guitar and keyboards, on bass, on drums, and on guitar—solidified during the early demo phase, providing a stable foundation for the album's foundational tracks. The album's title, In Times New Roman..., derives from a lyric in the closing track "Straight Jacket Fitting," evoking parallels between contemporary American society and the decline of the Roman Empire. Homme conceived the ellipsis as a nod to the ongoing, unresolved nature of life's hardships, drawing from his handwritten notes that juxtaposed chaos with the refining process of adversity, symbolized by the standard Times New Roman font as a vessel for enduring narratives. This thematic choice underscores the album's exploration of refinement emerging from personal and existential disorder.

Recording

The recording of In Times New Roman... primarily took place at Pink Duck Studios in , with additional sessions held at Shangri-La Studios in , and Dumbfox Studio, beginning in early 2022. The album was self-produced by Queens of the Stone Age, with engineering by Mark Rankin and Justin Smith, and mixing handled by Rankin. Initial tracking commenced in the spring of 2022 but was interrupted by Josh Homme's personal issues, including a cancer diagnosis requiring ; recording resumed thereafter, with principal sessions wrapping by fall 2022 and vocals added in November. The production approach prioritized a raw, brutal sound by capturing live band interplay in first or second takes, eschewing high-profile guest features to maintain an intimate, unpolished energy. Post-production involved mastering by Gavin Lurssen and Reuben Cohen at The Mastering Palace, with final mixes completed in November 2022.

Composition

Musical style

In Times New Roman... is classified as an album with prominent influences, marking Queens of the Stone Age's heaviest and most experimental effort since their 2007 release Era Vulgaris. The record draws on the band's early raw energy, emphasizing bluesy riffs and primitive drumming that evoke their foundational sound while incorporating angular guitar textures for a edge. This contrasts sharply with the disco-infused polish of their previous album Villains (2017), opting instead for a raw, hermetic production style characterized by dry, airless mixes and stiff, splashy drum tones. The album's instrumentation centers on the interplay of dual guitars from and , delivering interlocking riffs and leads that drive the sonic palette. Michael Shuman's bass lines provide a pulsating foundation, often foregrounded to anchor the grooves, while Dean Fertita's keyboards add atmospheric layers, from ominous swells to subtle textural support. Jon Theodore's drumming contributes to the primitive feel with punchy, relentless rhythms that underscore the album's aggressive bursts. Spanning 10 tracks and a total runtime of 47:37, the album features varied tempos, shifting from mid-tempo grooves to high-energy assaults. The opener "Obscenery" establishes a driving rhythm through its fuzz-laden and relentless propulsion, setting a tone of urgency. "Straight Jacket Fitting," the nine-minute closer, unfolds as a progressive epic with building intensity, incorporating string arrangements and howls amid escalating tension. Meanwhile, "Paper Machete" injects punk-infused energy via screeching guitars and blunt percussion, blending ferocity with the album's broader riff-driven ethos.

Lyrics and themes

The lyrics of In Times New Roman... were written exclusively by Queens of the Stone Age frontman , who served as the primary songwriter, while the music was co-composed by Homme alongside band members , , , and . The album's thematic core revolves around turmoil, mortality, fractured relationships, and resilience in the face of chaos, drawing from Homme's personal experiences as a means of processing and uncertainty. Homme has described the songwriting as a therapeutic act, emphasizing vulnerability without relying on external , stating, "Music is my therapist and my religion." Recurring motifs throughout the lyrics include emotional sickness—a phrase that appears across multiple tracks to evoke a profound, soul-deep —negative space representing voids of loss and absence, and carnivalesque voyeurism, which captures a detached observation of life's cycles of joy and decay. These elements reflect Homme's personal struggles, including his ongoing divorce from and a subsequent custody battle, as well as a cancer diagnosis that year requiring surgery and recovery. Homme has linked these motifs to broader reflections on mortality, noting the loss of 11 close friends and collaborators, such as and , which amplified themes of acceptance amid irreversible change. Specific tracks highlight these ideas through Homme's lens. "Emotion Sickness" directly addresses relational dysfunction and the raw pain of separation, with Homme explaining it as the "most direct" expression of his divorce's emotional toll, where he felt "so raw" that the music itself embodied the turmoil. "" delves into absence and loss, meditating on oblivion and , with lyrics like "I don’t know what’s true, particularly if it’s from you / Oh, betrayal it tears me up inside," which Homme ties to accepting uncontrollable events beyond the pandemic. In "Made to Parade," Homme critiques superficiality through imagery of endless cycles, inspired by an obsession with merry-go-rounds as metaphors for repetitive, performative existence, underscoring resilience by urging confrontation with inner fears. Homme's songwriting style employs abstract, poetic language delivered with his signature sardonic , eschewing literal in favor of evocative snapshots that invite interpretation while maintaining emotional authenticity. He has articulated this approach as striving for "as real, honest and vulnerable as it can be," often singing by candlelight to capture raw terror, such as in "," where he admits, "I’m afraid. I’m terrified." Although the music received collaborative credits from the band, Homme has emphasized that the remained his singular vision, shaped in isolation to preserve their intensity, which aligns with the album's raw, brutal .

Release and promotion

Singles

Queens of the Stone Age announced their eighth studio album, In Times New Roman..., via a video teaser on social media on May 9, 2023, revealing the cover art designed by longtime collaborator Boneface. The full announcement followed on May 11 through Matador Records, confirming a June 16 release date and sharing the tracklist. The lead single, "," debuted on May 11, 2023, accompanied by a surreal directed by and starring Liam Lynch. The track, written by frontman and produced during the album's sessions at Homme's Pink Duck Studios, became available digitally across major streaming platforms to generate early buzz. Follow-up single "Carnavoyeur" arrived on May 31, 2023, with an initial lyric video that highlighted the song's simmering, string-laden arrangement. A subsequent full , released on June 13, featured experimental visuals emphasizing themes of through striking, abstract imagery. Like the lead single, it was co-written by the band and drawn from the same production sessions. "Paper Machete" served as the final pre-release single on June 14, 2023, positioned as a promotional teaser just two days before the album's launch. The crunchy, riff-driven track included an animated lyric video created in collaboration with , underscoring its collage-like aesthetic. All three singles were made immediately available on digital platforms and streaming services, strategically building anticipation for the full album rollout. No additional singles were issued after the album's release, with prioritizing the complete project over further extractions. The pre-release singles also laid the groundwork for the supporting tour, integrating into live sets to amplify fan engagement.

Tour

The End Is Nero Tour, supporting Queens of the Stone Age's eighth studio album In Times New Roman..., commenced in 2023 as 's first major headlining run in five years. The North American leg kicked off on August 3 in , and extended through October, encompassing over two dozen dates across amphitheaters and festivals, before transitioning to Europe in November and December with performances in venues like Luxembourg's . Setlists during the tour prominently featured debuts from the new album, including tracks such as "Paper Machete," "," and "Carnavoyeur," interwoven with staples like "" and "" to showcase the band's evolving catalog. Special festival appearances, notably at in , , on June 24—prior to the headlining dates—highlighted early live renditions of album material amid a broader European festival circuit that included . This integration emphasized the raw, energetic delivery characteristic of Queens of the Stone Age's performances, aligning with the gritty, riff-driven sound of In Times New Roman... as the capstone to their Matador Records trilogy alongside ...Like Clockwork (2013) and Villains (2017). Frontman Josh Homme's ongoing recovery from emergency knee surgery in May 2023 and prior health challenges, including , influenced the tour's pacing, with adjusted scheduling to accommodate his condition while maintaining high-energy shows. The tour extended into 2024 with additional dates in and , including festivals, but several shows were canceled in 2024 following another emergency surgery for Homme; all remaining 2024 dates were canceled in August 2024 to allow him to receive essential medical care. Supplementary promotion included radio sessions, such as BBC broadcasts from , and limited in-store appearances tied to album release events. In July 2024, amid a brief resumption of activity before further cancellations, the band filmed the intimate live recording Alive in the Catacombs beneath , reinterpreting In Times New Roman... tracks in an unplugged format for an audience in the historic , capturing the tour's thematic intensity in a novel setting. An EP of the performance, Alive in the Catacombs, was released on June 13, 2025, and a related became available in June 2025. In June 2025, announced The Tour, a limited North American run of intimate theater performances starting October 2, 2025, in and concluding November 21, 2025, in New Orleans, featuring support from on select dates and emphasizing acoustic and reimagined sets inspired by the catacombs recording. A full-set livestream from Austin on November 18, 2025, was also scheduled.

Reception

Critical reception

Upon its release, In Times New Roman... received generally favorable reviews from critics, earning a aggregate score of 80 out of 100 based on 19 reviews. The album was praised for its raw intensity and a return to the band's bluesy roots, capturing a primitive, gritty energy that evoked Queens of the Stone Age's earlier work. awarded it 6.8 out of 10, highlighting it as the band's heaviest effort since 2007's Era Vulgaris and noting how tracks like "Paper Machete" and "Straight Jacket of the Mind" seethe with aggressive, blues-inflected riffs. Similarly, gave it 4 out of 5 stars, describing the record as "dark, sludgy, brutal" and appreciating the rawness born from personal pain, which had been absent since the band's more abrasive periods. Critics frequently connected the album's sound to Josh Homme's documented turmoil, including his cancer diagnosis, divorce, and the death of close friend , viewing it as a cathartic outlet that infused the music with visceral urgency. Mojo, scoring it 80 out of 100, observed that listeners could "feel Homme's pain, but ultimately marvel at his ability to channel it into music so brutally uplifting." Comparisons to the band's 2000 album Rated R surfaced in several reviews for its lo-fi, primitive vibe, with Uncut (90 out of 100) calling it a "potent, heavy distillation of everything the group have done," reminiscent of that era's unpolished edge. Some reviews offered mixed assessments, critiquing the album's insular quality. praised inventive sonic touches but found it "hermetic" and less accessible than prior releases, with Homme's personal angst sometimes overshadowing broader appeal. Louder (2.5 out of 5) echoed this, suggesting that while the dissection of "dark days and damage done" was brutal, Homme's pain did not always translate into universal resonance. By 2025, retrospectives have affirmed In Times New Roman...'s enduring place in Queens of the Stone Age's , particularly amid the band's touring resurgence and the release of the live album Alive in the Catacombs, which captured performances from the supporting tour and underscored the record's live potency despite ongoing challenges like Homme's health setbacks, including emergency in August 2024 that led to cancellations. Publications such as highlighted the album's role in proving the band's vitality as one of rock's premier acts, even as they navigated a period of uncertainty.

Commercial performance

In Times New Roman... debuted at number one on the US Rock Albums chart, marking Queens of the Stone Age's third number-one album on that tally, while entering at number nine on the with 40,000 album-equivalent units, of which 36,000 were pure . Internationally, the album topped the charts in , , the , and during its debut week. The album reached peak positions of number two in , the , and , among other markets. On year-end charts for 2023, it ranked number 42 on the US Hard Rock Albums chart and number 79 in , with streaming totals exceeding 100 million by mid-2024. Several factors contributed to its commercial success, including strong vinyl sales driven by limited-edition releases in colors such as silver, red, and translucent blue, as well as a boost from the band's 2023 tour. The album maintained steady catalog performance into 2025 without a major resurgence. Compared to the band's 2013 release , In Times New Roman... outperformed it in metrics.

Credits

Track listing

All tracks written by Queens of the Stone Age (, , , , ).
No.TitleDuration
1"Obscenery"4:23
2"Paper Machete"3:22
3""3:53
4"Time & Place"4:26
5"Made to Parade"5:18
6"Carnavoyeur"3:56
7"What the Peephole Say"4:06
8""4:41
9""4:31
10"Straight Jacket Fitting"9:01
The standard edition contains these 10 tracks with no bonus material.

Personnel

The album In Times New Roman... features the core Queens of the Stone Age lineup performing principal roles across its tracks. Queens of the Stone Age Additional musicians
  • The Section Quartet – strings (tracks 1, 6, 8, 10)
    • Daphne Chen – violin (tracks 1, 6, 8, 10)
    • Eric Gorfain – violin (tracks 1, 6, 8, 10)
    • Leah Katz – viola (tracks 1, 6, 8, 10)
    • Richard Dodd – cello (tracks 1, 6, 8, 10)
Production
  • Queens of the Stone Age – production
  • Johannes Luley – engineering
  • Matt Wallace – engineering
  • Mark Rankin – mixing
  • – mastering
Artwork and design
  • Liam McMurry – art direction, layout
  • – art direction
  • Chapman Baehler – photography
  • Boneface – artwork

References

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