After unveiling it during a performance at Boston’s Fenway Park on Tuesday, Guns N’ Roses have released “Absurd,” their first official new song since their 2008 album “Chinese Democracy.”
However, to call the song “new” is a relative term: The song, formerly called “Silkworms,” has been knocking around for two decades and was reportedly written during the years of sessions for “Chinese Democracy.”
The fast-paced track features Axl Rose singing with an almost comical British-tinged accent, along with several vintage shrieks. Slash contributes trademark fiery guitar licks throughout.
“Some of you might have heard this under another name, but this is really kind of absurd to try this,” Axl Rose said on Tuesday, introducing the song. After the band finished, he said, “See? I never run out of love songs. So you heard it here first: a new Guns N’ Roses song.”
Guns N’ Roses, which reunited three-fifths of its classic lineup in 2016 — Axl, Slash and bassist Duff McKagan — after years of estrangement, played more than 175 shows on the ensuing “Not in This Lifetime” tour through 2019, and were set to continue into into Latin and South America in 2020 when the pandemic hit.
The group hit the road again on July 31 and have North American dates scheduled through October, followed by Australia and New Zealand in November. An extensive European tour is scheduled for next summer.
Guns N’ Roses have released just three studio albums in its 35-plus-year career — but since their 1987 bow, “Appetite for Destruction,” is the top-selling debut album in history, they haven’t needed much more.
