Roger Taylor Announces New Solo Album Violence Insane In A Beautiful World

Queen drummer Roger Taylor has announced his seventh solo release, a new record titled Violence Insane In A Beautiful World. Set to arrive on September 18 via Columbia, the project marks his first solo full-length since 2021’s Outsider and dates his solo catalog back to 1977.

Alongside the album announcement, Taylor shared a reflective new single titled “I See You Now.”

The track follows the earlier release of lead single “Come On Summer (It’s Party Time),” which features The Ndlovu Youth Choir from Limpopo, South Africa.

The Meaning Behind ‘I See You Now’

Discussing the personal inspiration for his latest track, Taylor revealed the song’s intimate subject matter.

“It’s a love song, it’s really about my wife,” Taylor explained.

We’ve been together for quite some time, and I think when you really get to know someone, at first you really don’t see everything about them, but when you really get to know someone, it’s ‘oh, I see you now, that’s it.’

The single’s accompanying music video was helmed by Taylor’s longtime collaborator Simon Lupton.

Lupton previously worked on the long-form Queen videos Greatest Video Hits 1 and 2 and The Show Must Go On: The Queen + Adam Lambert Story.

Themes of Global Insanity and Hope

While not a traditional concept album, Taylor explained that the tracks share a unifying thread inspired by the state of the modern world.

“It’s in the title really,” he said.

“What a beautiful world we live in, don’t fuck it up.

There seems to be all this insanity at the moment.

The violence in the world seems to be as bad as it ever was, at any point, and certainly in my lifetime.

It’s just horrific, a lot of insane violence.

And we do seem to be fucking up the world, plastics in the sea, and all these awful wars everywhere, and hatred born of different religions.”

Despite the heavy subject matter, Taylor emphasized an underlying message of resilience and optimism.

“It’s a beautiful world, you know.

And kindness is very important, I think, it seems to be forgotten quite a lot.”

Album Tracklist

The 10-track record also features a cover of John Lennon’s “Jealous Guy” alongside original material written, produced, sung, and performed by Taylor: