Primus on Friday broke a studio silence of five years with the new, three-song EP, Conspiranoid. Available now across streaming platforms, the release is anchored by the 11-minute epic, “Conspiranoia”.
Ahead of the EP’s release, bassist/vocalist Les Claypool explained that Conspiranoid largely served as a delivery mechanism for “Conspiranoia”. Rather than putting out a single, Primus churned out a pair of B-sides to accompany the “long, winding, bastard of a song,” as Claypool referred to it. “Follow The Fool” and “Erin On The Side Of Caution” fill out the flip side, and carry on the modern themes from “Conspiranoia” about the age of disinformation.
“‘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,” Claypool told Consequence when premiering the track. “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. I was compelled to shed light on the ridiculousness of many of these perspectives and the lack of rational thought that was being applied in the interpretation of many such entities and theories.”
The three-song collection fits together in a neat, digestible, 19-minute package. Primus has not issued a full-fledged album since 2017’s The Desaturating Seven, and as Claypool said to podcast host Kyle Meredith, the band is in no hurry to issue an entirely new LP just yet.
“We didn’t have a ton of time to go and make a full-blown album, but also how many people are open to us playing a full-blown album live these days?” Claypool, who is currently performing Rush‘s A Farewell To Kings nightly on the band’s 64-date world tour, asked on Kyle Meredith With last month. “It’s like we got the Rush stuff, we got all our stuff, and you know, when you go see a band that you’ve been seeing for many years, oftentimes watching them play a bunch of new songs isn’t necessarily what you want, but trickling in a few songs will be better. That way we can actually play these things live and we’re not burying people with all this music that they don’t know. Except for the one song is literally 13 minutes long, so go to the bathroom before we start that one.”
Related: The Ohio State Marching Band Leaves Rush “Speechless” With Halftime Tribute [Watch]
Claypool furthered his discussion of current affairs last week with the release of “Zelensky: The Man With The Iron Balls“. The guest-filled tribute to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky saw Les team up with Gogol Bordello‘s Ukrainian frontman Eugene Hütz and welcome contributions from Billy Strings, Stewart Copeland, Sean Lennon, and Hütz’s bandmate Sergey Ryabtsev.
“We now have a recording to help rally support for a bullied country, and a David versus Goliath-type man who stood up for their liberty, freedom, and homeland,” Claypool told Rolling Stone. “[We’re] giving praise to a man who stepped up for his people beyond anything I’ve seen in my tenure on this planet. This unlikely fellow has grabbed the reins of leadership and held fast in such a way that the world is now galvanized in support.”
Stream the new Primus EP Conspiranoid via the player below and click here to order vinyl copies, available on August 5th. Primus’s A Tribute To Kings tour continues tonight, April 25th, in Knoxville, TN. Scroll down for a full list of tour dates and click here for tickets.
Primus – Conspiranoid
Primus North American Tour Dates
Monday, April 25 – Knoxville, TN – Tennessee Theatre*
Wednesday, April 27 – New Orleans, LA – Saenger Theatre *
Saturday, April 30 – Huntsville, AL – Mars Music Hall, Von Braun Center *
Tuesday, May 3 – Miami Beach, FL – The Fillmore *
Wednesday, May 4 – St. Petersburg, FL – Mahaffey Theater, Duke Energy Center for the Arts *
Friday, May 6 – North Charleston, SC – North Charleston Performing Arts Center *
Saturday, May 7 – Saint Augustine, FL – The Saint Augustine Amphitheatre *
Monday, May 9 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium *
Tuesday, May 10 – Fort Wayne, IN – The Clyde Theatre *
Friday, May 13 – Toronto, ON – Massey Hall +
Saturday, May 14 – Toronto, ON – Massey Hall +
Monday, May 16 – Montreal, QC – L’Olympia +
Tuesday, May 17 – Quebec, QC – Videotron Centre +
Wednesday, May 18 – Albany, NY – Palace Theatre *
Friday, May 20 – Port Chester, NY – The Capitol Theatre *
Saturday, May 21 – Montclair, NJ – Wellmont Theater *
Sunday, May 22 – Huntington, NY – The Paramount *
Tuesday, May 24 – Washington, D.C. – Warner Theatre *
Wednesday, May 25 – Bethlehem, PA – The Wind Creek Event Center *
Friday, May 27 – Atlantic City, NJ – Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa *
Saturday, May 28 – LaFayette, NY – Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards *
Monday, May 30 – Louisville, KY – Old Forester’s Paristown Hall *
Tuesday, May 31 – Grand Rapids, MI – GLC Live at 20 Monroe *
Thursday, June 2 – Milwaukee, WI – BMO Harris Pavilion *
Friday, June 3 – Saint Paul, MN – Palace Theatre *
Saturday, June 4 – Winnipeg, MB – Burton Cummings Theatre for the Performing Arts +
Monday, June 6 – Regina, SK – Conexus Arts Centre – Capital Auto Theatre +
Tuesday, June 7 – Saskatoon, SK – TCU Place – Sid Buckwold Theatre +
Thursday, June 9 – Calgary, AB – Grey Eagle Event Centre, Grey Eagle Resort & Casino +
Friday, June 10 – Edmonton, AB – Edmonton Expo Centre +
Sunday, June 12 – Vancouver, BC – The Orpheum +
Tuesday, June 14 – Troutdale, OR – Edgefield ~
Wednesday, June 15 – Redding, CA – Redding Civic Auditorium ~
Friday, June 17 – Sacramento, CA – Sacramento Memorial Auditorium ~
Saturday, June 18 – Reno, NV – Grand Theatre, Grand Sierra Resort and Casino ~
Sunday, June 19 – San Jose, CA – San Jose Civic ~
Tuesday, June 21 – Santa Barbara, CA – Arlington Theatre ~
Thursday, June 23 – Riverside, CA – Riverside Municipal Auditorium ~
Friday, June 24 – Long Beach, CA – Terrace Theater, Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center ~
Saturday, June 25 – Las Vegas, NV – The Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas ~
Friday, August 12 – Vail, CO – Gerald R. Ford Amphitheatre
Saturday, August 13 – Vail, CO – Gerald R. Ford Amphitheatre
EUROPE TOUR
Friday, September 9 – Stockholm, Sweden – Fryshuset Arenan
Saturday, September 10 – Oslo, Norway – Oslo Spektrum
Monday, September 12 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Vega
Wednesday, September 14 – Berlin, Germany – Huxley’s Neue Welt
Friday, September 16 – Warsaw, Poland – Klub Stodola
Saturday, September 17 – Prague, Czechia – Forum Karlin
Sunday, September 18 – Munich, Germany – TonHalle München
Tuesday, September 20 – Zürich, Switzerland – Kaufleuten
Wednesday, September 21 – Padova, Italy – Gran Teatro Geox
Friday, September 23 – Bogerhout, Belgium – De Roma
Saturday, September 24 – Paris, France – L’Olympia
Sunday, September 25 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – AFAS Live
Tuesday, September 27 – Glasgow, United Kingdom – 02 Academy Glasgow
Thursday, September 29 – London, United Kingdom – Eventim Apollo
Friday, September 30 – Manchester, United Kingdom – Manchester Academy
Saturday, October 1 – Dublin, Ireland – Olympia Theatre
* with Battles
+ with Black Mountain
~ with The Black Angels
View Tour Dates
