Alex Lifeson of Rush performs during the final show of the R40 Tour at The Forum on Saturday, August 1, 2015, in Los Angeles.
Rich Fury/Invision/AP ImagesRush guitarist Alex Lifeson has released two instrumental tracks, “Kabul Blues” and “Spy House,” to promote his new Alex Lifeson Epiphone Les Paul Standard Axcess electric guitar. They can be heard on his official website.
The songs feature bassist Andy Curran, drummer David Quinton Steinberg, and Lifeson on “everything else.” This is the first music he’s released since the 2012 Rush LP Clockwork Angels. The vast majority of the music Lifeson has made over the course of his long career was in Rush, although he did release the under-the-radar solo LP Victor in 1996.
Rush has been completely inactive since the conclusion of their 40th-anniversary tour in 2015. The band ended in January 2020 when Neil Peart died after a long battle with brain cancer.
“Neil asked us not to discuss [his illness] with anyone,” Lifeson told Rolling Stone earlier this year. “He just wanted to be in control of it. The last thing in the world he would want is people sitting on his sidewalk or driveway singing ‘Closer to the Heart’ or something. That was a great fear of his. He didn’t want that attention at all. And it was definitely difficult to lie to people or to sidestep or deflect somehow. It was really difficult.”
Peart wasn’t a founding member of Rush and he didn’t play on their debut LP in 1974, but Lifeson and Geddy Lee say the band simply cannot exist without him. “That’s over,” Lee told Rolling Stone earlier this year. “I still am very proud of what we did. I don’t know what I will do again in music. And I’m sure Al doesn’t, whether it’s together, apart, or whatever. But the music of Rush is always part of us. And I would never hesitate to play one of those songs in the right context. But at the same time, you have to give respect to what the three of us with Neil did together.”
Lifeson felt the same way. “I love playing, and I never, ever wanted to stop,” he said. “And I thought, you know, ‘One day, when I’m just sitting around shitting my pants, I’ll still want to play guitar.’ And that’s kind of gone now. After he died, it just didn’t seem important. But I think it’ll come back.”
It’s unclear if Lifeson will ever release a second solo album or tour again in some capacity, but with the release of “Kabul Blues” and “Spy House,” he’s at least taken the first tiny step towards a post-Rush musical future.
NEW RELEASES
Queens Of The Stone Age have shared fresh information about their upcoming album ‘Perfecth’ alongside the smooth, seductive groove of their latest single, ‘Insignificant Other’.
The record follows their widely praised 2023 album ‘In Times New Roman’ and is scheduled for release on October 30 through Matador Records. The date arrives after the group previously hinted that the album could be released in September with a graphic announcement video.
After introducing the project with the fan favorite ‘Easy Street’, the band have now offered another preview of their ninth studio album. ‘Insignificant Other’ is a relaxed and airy track that carries forward the easygoing rhythm heard on the classic ‘Make It Wit Chu’.
“It’s a song about distance,” said frontman Josh Homme. “About how someone can be your entire world only to simply vanish. And about the strange vertigo of being on the receiving end of that.”
The new song and album reveal are accompanied by a humorous video directed by Chapman Baehler. It stars viral dog Big Chongus as a representation of everything considered “perfecth”. The playful, canine focused video also includes Ruby Homme, Max Homme, Pumpkin Van Leeuwen, Isabella Puppolini (Izzy) Van Leeuwen and Reesa Shuman. Watch it below.
The idea behind the album’s name comes from Homme’s belief that the word “perfect” has never felt truthful because genuine perfection does not exist. He therefore invented a new term that better expresses the concept.
“Nothing in this world is perfect, but everything seems to be ‘perfecth’,” said Homme. “And that title is funny when you’re in a group, but it ain’t so funny when you’re alone.”
Another major influence on the record is Kintsugi, the Japanese practice of restoring broken pottery by highlighting its cracks with gold. Homme explained that the technique shows how “what has been shattered is made more beautiful, not less, by the act of repair”. The concept connected with the band after its members reached a place of “hard-won clarity” together. Across nine tracks, the album explores several kinds of love involving “family, friends, and others both significant and insignificant”.
The project also contains a newly recorded version of ‘Sunday’, originally featured on Homme’s collaborative album with Iggy Pop, ‘Post Pop Depression’. Released in 2016, the acclaimed record also included Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders and QOTSA member Dean Fertita.
Homme produced ‘Perfecth’ alongside bassist Michael ‘Mikey Shoes’ Shuman. Recording sessions took place in several locations, ranging from New Orleans to Los Angeles.
“Every song sounds like it’s from a different world,” added Homme. “And that’s on purpose, because it’s trying to stitch together all these emotions revolving around love, lust, foolishness, and the sort of wisdom that comes as a gift from all that.”
Queens Of The Stone Age will issue ‘Perfecth’ through Matador Records on October 30. Preorder the album here and view its cover art and complete song list below.
Queens Of The Stone Age announce new album ‘Perfecth’
‘It’s Only Love’
‘Insignificant Other’
‘Where The Goth Girls At?’
‘Mono’
‘From The Cliff’
‘Sunday’
‘Easy Street’
‘Phantom Limb’
‘Run Away From The Mob’
The project was additionally shaped by the band’s experience of delivering a minimalist performance inside the historic Parisian Catacombs in 2024. The unusual event was documented through a related concert movie and a live record. NME awarded Alive In The Catacombs four stars, describing the release as a “moving and meditative concert doc”.
Following the Catacombs appearance, Queens Of The Stone Age embarked on a series of intimate concerts across the UK, Europe and North America. A string section joined the musicians throughout the run.
The last UK performance took place at London’s Royal Albert Hall in October. The group presented unreleased music during the stripped back and emotional show, with Matt Berry also joining them onstage. Footage and photographs from the evening can be viewed here.
In 2024, Homme pledged to “roll his sleeves up” and avoid making listeners wait so long for another Queens Of The Stone Age album. Six years passed between the arrival of 2017’s ‘Villains’ and ‘In Times New Roman…’.
Queens Of The Stone Age. CREDIT: Andreas Neumann
“I think we should be making something,” Homme explained at the time. “The mantra of the last five years was, ‘It won’t be long now!’ That needs to pertain to making things too. I certainly think we should make more, faster-er, better-er.”
Having recently completed UK and European stadium concerts as support for System Of A Down, QOTSA are now playing North American dates as special guests of Foo Fighters. Headlining appearances in Iceland, Japan, Australia and other locations will follow. Visit the band’s official channels for ticket details and further information.
