Jane's Addiction releases new song "True Love" while still presumably too angry to tour
The band canceled their reunion shows after lead singer Perry Farrell took a swing at guitarist Dave Navarro last week
Photo: Kieran Frost/Redferns (Getty)Boy, has it been a big month for Jane’s Addiction. Last week, when a bunch of non-metal heads probably learned that the “Jane Says” rockers had reunited for the first time in 14 years in the first place, lead singer Perry Farrell made headlines for taking a swing at guitarist Dave Navarro onstage. The band apologized after a video of Farrell getting literally dragged off the stage spread across the internet, and canceled the rest of the tour shortly after. Now, they have a new song out. Let us breathe, Jane’s Addiction!
If the track, titled “True Love,” is a eulogy for the band, it sure is an ironic one. “When I first felt true love, I was very young/I tried to describe it to my friends/You’re floating in something that’s way over your head/Wading in the waters of true love,” Farrell sings, before proclaiming that he’s “Yearning to be again with my true love” at the end of the ballad. According to NME, the band debuted the song live in London earlier this year and have played it at a handful of shows since. It was presumably scheduled to come out this week regardless of the fight, and the band (or their managers) decided not to let it crumble into obscurity. The artists have been totally silent about the release on social media, however, so we may never know.
This is the second single the band’s original lineup has released since reuniting, following “Imminent Redemption” (another ironic title in retrospect) this past August. The same month, Navarro told Rolling Stone that a new album was “more than likely going to happen.” “I mean, we have recorded material,” he elaborated. “I don’t know specifically the model, if it’s going to be a song at a time, or if we’re going to drop a song and then a record, or I don’t really know. I kind of stay out of that stuff. What matters to me most is that this stuff is on vinyl.”
Unfortunately, Navarro may not be able to stay out of the decision-making process at this time. Whether this material ever sees the light of day or if Farrell will be left yearning to be again with his true love remains to be seen.
On Monday, the singer issued a statement of his own about the fight. “This weekend has been incredibly difficult and after having the time and space to reflect, it is only right that I apologize to my bandmates, especially Dave Navarro, fans, family and friends for my actions during Friday’s show,” Farrell told Variety. “Unfortunately, my breaking point resulted in inexcusable behavior, and I take full accountability for how I chose to handle the situation.”