Billy Idol has dropped a new single titled “Bitter Taste,” his first piece of new music since 2014’s Kings & Queens of the Underground.
“Bitter Taste” is the lead single from Idol’s new EP The Roadside, which is due out September 14 and available for pre-order and pre-save here. Per Rolling Stone, Idol’s new EP will be released on Dark Horse Records, the record label started by George Harrison that has been brought back by his son, Dhani.
Rolling Stone notes, “The track, recorded during the Covid-19 pandemic, finds Idol looking back at his near-fatal 1990 motorcycle accident, a crash that almost resulted in Idol losing a leg and left him unable to walk for nearly a year.”
In a statement on the new song, Idol said, “I think everyone has been feeling more reflective (during the pandemic). So, it seemed quite logical and natural to write something about my motorcycle accident. Certainly, the motorcycle accident was the catharsis, the wake-up moment. A little bit of me got left on that roadside. But it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing in the end; it was a wake-up call. Maybe on that roadside I left behind the irreverent youthful Billy and opened the door for a more attentive father and a more sensitive musician.
