"Meadow" is the first Stone Temple Pilots song to feature new singer Jeff Gutt, who was chosen by the band out of 15,000 applicants after the year spanning search for a new singer after the departures and deaths of prior vocalists Scott Weiland and Chester Bennington.[1] The song was debuted live, at Gutt's first concert with the band, on November 14, 2017, at a private, invite-only show, with the studio recording of the song being released the following day.[3][4] The song is the lead single from the band's seventh studio album, which was released on March 16, 2018.[5] A lyric video was released a month later, on December 15, 2017.[6]
The song's instrumental track was originally written by the band's remaining original members - guitarist Dean DeLeo, bassist Robert DeLeo, and drummer Eric Kretz - prior to Gutt's audition for the band in September 2016.[7] The song was presented to Gutt as part of the auditioning process; the band played him the song, and he was tasked, on the spot, to see what he would do with the song.[7] Gutt was able to come up with the vocal melody on the spot, and was able to write the songs later down the road.[7] Gutt's ability to write the lyrics and melody of the song, alongside a few other songs, is what made the band decide that he should be the new lead singer.[7]
Themes and composition
Gutt's vocals are described as having a deep, nasal-toned quality to them, sounding similar to Weiland without sounding like an exact clone.[8]Rolling Stone described the track as a "churning hard rocker.[1] Kretz stated that the band aimed to capture a more modern take on Stone Temple Pilots music while retaining the elements of their prior work at the same time.[1]
