Yeah, Stef's believes certainly are not new. But with the pandemic over the last two years headlines about them became more frequent, also his absence from international tour makes me think he's not quite healthy in the head, paranoid, unsensible, etc. Otherwise he would get over it and take the jab. I'm not saying it‘s directly influencing his songwriting capabilities. But I remember Stef saying in the Gore era that he felt disconnected and left alone in the band with noone to rely on for a while. With all that covid shenanigans and him not going on tour overseas could potentially lead to him feeling the same way as during the Gore sessions. And most fans would agree that that definitely showed in the music's quality.
Commercially it's going to be a hit, no doubt about it. But if there's actually new music coming, I can't shake the feeling of it being rushed. They haven't even explored Ohms to it‘s fullness in a live setting. Who knows, but after all those years of consistency eventually there has to be musical misstep in their catalogue and I think this one could be it.
