Just see how far it will bend

Dear friends,

Josh Homme is H-U-G-E. I was fishing around for a photo that would convey his hugeness. Standing next to a child, say, or even a regular person and dwarfing them. A big arm leading to a giant hand holding a bottle that looks miniature as it is damply throttled by enormous sausage fingers, etc. etc.

Truth is, I find him strangely alluring. But it's not his size*. It's the fact that Homme looks muy macho but sings like a velvety voiced alto. I love it that when this viking opens his mouth to sing, a smooth, jazzy Julie London tone comes out. He slides and settles warmly into his notes like someone who should have Veronica Lake hair, a bias cut gown, long satin gloves and an ancient radio mic in front of them. Especially on Make It Wit Chu.

Flashback to a late night bar conversation from last week:

J: I don't get that.

D: No? ...Gloves? (mimes putting on long gloves) Satin?

J: Eh...no. That's just you.

Homme looks around for people to crush with his biceps.
I first heard Make It Wit Chu on the Desert Sessions. The title says it all: a nice, straightforward song about fucking. Mark Lanegan (love him and his leathery, whiskey wheeze) murmurs about how the only thing he knows fo' sho' is what he wants to do while Polly Jean Harvey and Homme cheep the chorus. It's breezy and fun. It sounds like Lanegan was actually smiling to himself as he sang it. That's worth bonus points right there. When I saw that the song was going to be on the new QOTSA, and that Homme was singing it, I was a little worried. What would that voice do to a song that has "lark!" written all over it? Would it make it become OVERLY SERIOUS or worse, CREEPY? Neither as it turns out. It sounds as if Homme internalized the Lanegan delivery and added his own unique earnestness to it. He means that repeated "Anytime, Anywhere" and the offer is just soft enough to sound like assurance. A song meant for jukejoints but not for the drunken strangers making passes at one another over shots. No. It's meant for the drunken marrieds who can think of no one better to take home than that person sitting next to them.

I just de-fanged the song for you, didn't I? Seriously though...gloves. LARGE ones.

Make It Wit Chu/Queens of the Stone Age (mp3)

Buy Era Vulgaris by Queens of the Stone Age.

Love, D

* I know I'm setting myself up for that one.