Two of rock ‘n’ roll’s greatest frontmen, Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme and Iggy Pop, secretly hit the studio together last January. They wrote and recorded a full-length album called Post Pop Depression, which will be released in March through Loma Vista Recordings.

According to an interview with The New York Times, Homme and Pop financed the project themselves to ensure “utmost secrecy and full independence.” They recorded nine songs over the course of two sessions, with one ground rule: “neither would bring in complete songs, only ideas.” Joining them in the studio were guitarist/keyboardist Dean Fertita (QOTSA, The Dead Weather) and Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders.



Homme described the record as a sort of sequel to Lust for Life, Pop’s 1977 collaboration with David Bowie. “Where those records pointed, it stopped,” Home told The Times. “But without copying it — that direction actually goes for miles. And when you keep going for miles, you can’t see these two records any more.” Pop described the album’s theme as such: “What happens after your years of service? And where is the honor?”

(Read: Top 20 Queens of the Stone Age Songs)

Homme and Pop plan to take the album on the road for a brief as-yet-unannounced tour. The touring lineup will include Fertita and Helders as well as QOTSA’s Troy Van Leeuwen (guitar) and Chavez’s Matt Sweeney (bass). Pop said the setlist will include material from Lust for Life, including the track “Success”, which he has never before performed live. Update – Thursday, January 21st at 1:45 p.m. CT: Homme and Pop will make their debut performance together on tonight’s episode of the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

In the interview, Homme also revealed that he was originally supposed to perform with Eagles of Death Metal on the night of the Paris terror attacks. “I guess it was my fate to be home and to bring them home,” Homme said. “Bad things are like a sunset; they dissipate over time. But this is a long sunset. My dearest friends — how will they un-see that?”

He added that working on Post Pop Depression helped him cope with the aftermath: “The fact that I had this to work on, it saved me.”