"This song is the most personal track we have ever done": Stoner rock icons Masters Of Reality release first new music in 15 years

Chris Goss studio portrait
(Image credit: Alex Solca)

Stoner rock icons Masters Of Reality have released a new single, Sugar. It's the first new material from the band since 2009's Pine Cross Dover album, and arrives ahead of a seven-date European tour, which kicks off in Eindhoven in the Netherlands on May 16, and includes a show at London's Desert Fest two days later. 

“As it developed, Sugar revealed an inner will to become less esoteric and more directly personal,” says Masters Of Reality mainman leader Chris Goss. “It’s a complete, emotionally based story instead of my usual, covertly whispered list of what’s wrong with the world’s tragic trajectory.

"Finally the lyric gelled, reflecting on intelligent women trying to find their place somewhere in the mess. Not in the modern media’s social strata angle as a percentage number to create ratings by directing a ruse to a large demographic, but a real picture of what real people feel. The inner emotional reality of one life and its relevance to many lives."

You may like

“We can infer after a long silence of 15 years that the band is ready to face The World,” he continues. “When people are truly ready for real music played from the heart, as opposed to auto-tune and everything so aligned, and that’s not where this band ever came from. I’ve waited for some time for that storm to pass. Whether inner or outer, it wasn’t right. It’s simply time now, and this song Sugar is the most personal track we have ever done.”
 

Masters Of Reality: European Tour 2024

May 16: Eindhoven Effenaar, The Netherlands
May 17: London Electric Ballroom, UK
May 19: Utrecht Tivoli Pandora, The Netherlands
May 21: Leuven Het Depot, Belgium
May 23: Bielefeld Forum, Germany  
May 24: Rüsselsheim Das Rind, Germany
May 26: Berlin Columbia Hall, Germany  

Fraser Lewry
Online Editor, Classic Rock

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 39 years in music industry, online for 26. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.

Read more
Skunk Anansie studio portrait
Skunk Anansie release spiky new single An Artist Is An Artist, and if you hate saxophone Skin has news for you
The Darkness wearing business suits
"We wade through sweet treacle every day, to make things for others to love": The Darkness ponder their place in the world on pumping new rock tune Walking Through Fire
Skunk Anansie vocalist Skin in 2025, next to a vinyl copy of new album The Painful Truth
Get new Skunk Anansie album The Painful Truth on white splatter vinyl, exclusively through Classic Rock
The Flower Kings
The Flower Kings announce new album and a European tour with Neal Morse & The Resonance
Tracks Of The Week artists
The best new rock songs you need to hear right now
Swervedriver
Alt.rock icons Swervedriver release first new music in five years and it's predictably epic
Latest in
Cradle Of Filth performing in 2021 and Ed Sheeran in 2024
Cradle Of Filth’s singer claims Ed Sheeran tried to turn a Toys R Us into a live music venue
The Beatles in 1962
"The quality is unreal. How is this even possible to have?" Record shop owner finds 1962 Beatles' audition tape that a British label famously decided wasn't good enough to earn Lennon and McCartney's band a record deal
The Mars Volta
“My totalitarian rule might not be cool, but at least we’ve made interesting records. At least we polarise people”: It took The Mars Volta three years and several arguments to make Noctourniquet
/news/the-darkness-i-hate-myself
"When the storm clouds clear, the band’s innate pop sensibilities shine as brightly as ever": In a world of bread-and-butter rock bands, The Darkness remain the toast of the town
Ginger Wildheart headshot
"What happens next, you give everyone a hard-on and then go around the room with a bat like Al Capone?!” Ginger Wildheart's wild tales of Lemmy, AC/DC, Guns N' Roses, Cheap Trick and more
Lizzo and Sister Rosetta Tharpe onstage
"This is my baby, my passion – because Rosetta deserves": Lizzo to play rock'n'roll pioneer Sister Rosetta Tharpe in upcoming biopic
Latest in News
Cradle Of Filth performing in 2021 and Ed Sheeran in 2024
Cradle Of Filth’s singer claims Ed Sheeran tried to turn a Toys R Us into a live music venue
The Beatles in 1962
"The quality is unreal. How is this even possible to have?" Record shop owner finds 1962 Beatles' audition tape that a British label famously decided wasn't good enough to earn Lennon and McCartney's band a record deal
Lizzo and Sister Rosetta Tharpe onstage
"This is my baby, my passion – because Rosetta deserves": Lizzo to play rock'n'roll pioneer Sister Rosetta Tharpe in upcoming biopic
Heart publicity shot
"Don't worry, it's not the worst. It's not what you think": Nancy Wilson reassures fans concerned about Ann Wilson's onstage wheelchair
Mastodon
Mastodon add headline shows to their summer tour in the UK and Europe, but there's still no news on who's replacing Brent Hinds
Bury Tomorrow in 2023 and John Cena in 2025
This metalcore band want their new song to be John Cena’s theme now he’s a bad guy