Origins is a recurring new music feature giving artists a home to share insights into their newest release you won’t find anywhere else. Today, Les Claypool of Primus breaks down the band’s new track, “Conspiranoia.”
Primus have announced a new three-track EP titled Conspiranoid. Out on April 22nd via ATO Records, it opens with the 11-minute epic “Conspiranoia,” which Consequence is exclusively premiering a day early.
As frontman Les Claypool explains to Consequence, the genesis for the single and its accompanying B-sides came from some observations scribbled down in a notebook. “I’d been itching to record an opus — basically a long, winding, bastard of a song, reminiscent of some of the compositions I cut my teeth (or ears) on, in my music-hungry adolescence,” he recalls. “‘Conspiranoia’ was sprouted from a seed I had planted in my notebook a year or so ago — a few lines commenting on the mental state of the contemporary world.”
He continues, “I watched the distrust and divide grow between friends, colleagues, relatives, and the general population because of the consumption and digesting of disinformation, misinformation, warped information, and flat-out fairy tales being perpetuated by anyone with a slight hint of web design aptitude.”
While the track falls short of Claypool’s original 20-minute target, it’s chock full of references to Bill Gates conspiracy theories, chemtrails, and microchips, cutting to the heart of the issue. He also sings about a woman who sprinkled cat urine into her eyes and put garlic cloves in her nostrils rather than getting vaccinated — unsurprisingly, she meets an untimely demise.
[editors-picks id=”1195925″]
“You can lead a horse to water,” an exasperated Claypool sings. “But you cannot make him drink/ You can guide a fool to logic/ But you’ll rarely make him think.” After an extended guitar solo, the track closes out with audio samples of other popular conspiracies, including shape-shifters and space lasers.
Check out “Conspiranoia” below, followed by Claypool’s full Origins of the track.
Later this month, Primus are headed out on the second leg of their Rush tribute tour, “A Tribute to Kings.” Battles, Black Mountain, and The Black Angels will serve as support throughout the trek. Tickets are available now via Ticketmaster.
Two additional dates have been announced at Gerald R. Ford Amphitheatre in Vail, Colorado on August 12th and 13th. Grab your seats for those shows on Friday, April 8th at 10:00 a.m. local time here.
