"Poison Flowers" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

musician

Billy Howerdel Billy Howerdel (born May 18, 1970) is an American musician, best known as the founding member, guitarist, backing vocalist, songwriter, and producer for the band A Perfect Circle, as well as for his former solo project, Ashes Divide. Howerdel h ...

(of

A Perfect Circle A Perfect Circle is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1999 by guitarist Billy Howerdel and Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan. A Perfect Circle has released four studio albums, the first three during the early 2000s: ' ...

). It is the debut single from his solo album '' What Normal Was''. The song is the first new solo music from Howerdel's since '' Keep Telling Myself Its Alright'', released under the moniker Ashes Divide, in 2008.

Background

After three albums as the guitarist of

in the early 2000s,

wished to branch out and record a solo album while A Perfect Circle frontman

Maynard James Keenan Maynard James Keenan (born James Herbert Keenan; April 17, 1964) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and winemaker. He is best known as the singer and primary lyricist of the rock bands Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Pusci ...

returned to his band

Tool A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...

. Howerdel released the album '' Keep Telling Myself Its Alright'' under the moniker Ashes Divide in 2008, but ceased releasing solo material shortly after the release. Work on new material privately started in earnest in 2018 while touring in support of A Perfect Circle's fourth studio album ''

Eat the Elephant ''Eat the Elephant'' is the fourth studio album by American rock music, rock band A Perfect Circle. It is their first album release in fourteen years since 2004's ''Emotive (album), Emotive''. While early work on new material traces back to as ear ...

''. When writing the song, Howerdel first started with the bass line, and pieced together other parts over it. A teaser trailer for the song was released in February 2022. In March 2022, Howerdel released the song, "Poison Flowers", his first new solo music in 14 years.

Themes and composition

The song features Howerdel providing vocals, guitar, bass, piano, and

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

on the track. Drums were performed by

Josh Freese Joshua Ryan Freese (born December 25, 1972) is an American session drummer. He is the son of tuba soloist Stan Freese and the older brother of musician Jason Freese. He is a member of the Vandals (since 1989) and Devo (since 1996), having forme ...

, who had previously worked with Howerdel in A Perfect Circle and Ashes Divide. ''

Guitar World ''Guitar World'' is a monthly music magazine for guitarists – and fans of guitar-based music and trends – that has been published since July 1980. ''Guitar World'', the best-selling guitar magazine in the United States, contains original art ...

'' described the song's sound as a mix between

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

and

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band ...

, while '' Consequence'' described it as the same style of

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

that fans of A Perfect Circle would appreciate. ''

Revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...

'' described the track as having an "ethereal" and "brooding", with "gothic vocals" and "oodles of atmospheric textures".

Personnel

– vocals, guitar, bass, piano,

– drums

References

{{Authority control 2022 singles 2022 songs Songs written by Billy Howerdel