It’s still a long way off, but fans of desert rockers Queens of the Stone Age can start gearing up for new music, with frontman/songwriter Josh Homme admitting the follow-up to 2007’s Era Vulgaris will sound like “explosions and fireworks”.

Currently touring the globe with his supergroup Them Crooked Vultures, the towering redhead says he already knows what sort of record he wants to make – even if he’s not so sure yet how he’s going to go about it.

‘I’m looking for explosions and fireworks and grand finale, I don’t really care how we get to that,” he insists. “I want the next Queens record to be like a condensed firework show where it’s all grand finale.”

With a deluxe edition of their 2000 album Rated R due for release next month, Homme says he’s hoping to reconvene with his bandmates later in 2010 to start recording sessions. With a revolving line-up, one things for sure: if he ever splits the band, they’ll be no looking back.

“A buddy of mine said, ‘Never do a reunion. Never do a sequel,’“ Homme remembers.

“He’s right. It’s not what it was, it’s what it is. And I’ve always been obsessed with now, because what’s done is done and I can’t go backwards. And I’m not going to walk backwards into my future, the only way I’ll have a future is if I pay attention to now.”