For those looking for autumnal music this season — songs that appreciate nostalgia while accepting the inevitable arrival of the future — Roger Taylor’s got you covered. On Oct. 1, the drummer of Queen is releasing Outsider, an album that he describes as “a bit more grown-up than my last couple of albums.” The artist created the album throughout the isolation of the pandemic, as Queen + Adam Lambert’s tour was postponed to 2022.
This isn’t Taylor’s first solo album; in 1981, he released Fun In Space, and three more until his 2013 album, Fun on Earth. Although this new album is coming out 40 years after his first individual album, it is still individually written, produced and performed. Prior to the pandemic, while the band gained traction on the silver screen, Taylor was playing shows, such as one with the Foo Fighters at a pop-up show in LA. Though the drummer doubtlessly pays tribute to his time with Queen, he makes more political statements than the band did.
“In Queen we always tried to be apolitical,” Taylor said in a press release. “But when you have the freedom to express yourself as a single person, you can say what the hell you like, which I’ve always tried to do. So many gangsters are running countries these days.” And with such freedom, you can also explore different musical styles and thematic concepts, from the bluesy “I Know I Know I Know” to the uplifting title track. After nearly two years of feeling like outsiders from the rest of the world, this album comes to remind us that we aren’t alone in the feeling.
Outsider Track Listing:
1. Tides
2. I Know, I Know, I Know
3. More Kicks
4. Absolutely Anything
5. Gangsters Are Running This World
6. We’re All Just Trying To Get By – Featuring K T Tunstall
7. Gangsters Are Running This World – Purple Version
8. Isolation
9. The Clapping Song
10. Outsider
11. Foreign Sand – English Mix
12. Journey’s End
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