"Uptown Funk" Convinced Josh Homme to Work with Mark Ronson

"Uptown Funk" really is a universal hit. It's a favourite among wedding DJs, children, old people, and, apparently, Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age, proving that, despite his Alpha Male front, he's really no better than your dad, who'll approvingly tap his foot whenever he hears the Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson track.

Yesterday Homme and co. announced that their new album Villains – produced by Mark Ronson, of, yes, "Uptown Funk" fame – will be released on 25 August. Speaking to Zane Lowe for Beats 1, Homme revealed that, very much like mums the world over, he too loves "Uptown Funk," stating that one reason for the band's choice of Ronson for Villains so that it would "was to act like a talisman as a reminder of listening to "Uptown Funk." It's very tight and vacuous. It sounds fucking great."

Now I don't know about you (Homme's statement is pretty wordy, after all) but this kind of sounds like Josh Homme wanted the new QOTSA album to remind you of the experience of listening to a Bruno Mars song. Which is… a departure, to say the least (but not one I hate). Homme also told Zane that Ronson was selected because of their similarities in the studio:

If the claps and trumpets on new single "The Way You Used To Do" are anything to go by, Ronson is all over Villains, and the way his style blends with QOTSA's natural groove makes the pairing sound like a natural fit. I'm all for it, even if "Uptown Funk" is pretty bizarre album inspiration for a rock outfit.

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(Image via Wikimedia Commons)