A Perfect Circle are back. Billy Howerdel and Maynard James Keenan have shared ‘Starless’, a new single that signals a fresh dawn for the band, and it lands just days before they launch their first European and UK tour in eight years.
The timing is no accident. “Absolutely chuffed to debut this new track on stage in the U.K.,” Keenan says. “Of course I’m excited to release the recordings but our songs always take on an expanded personality once we start playing them live.”
Unmistakably the work of this band, ‘Starless’ moves between muscular, guitar-driven intensity and delicate, intricate passages, carrying the precision that has defined their music from the start. It was recorded at Howerdel’s Lankershim Ranch Studio in Studio City, California, written earlier in the year, produced by Howerdel and mixed by Matty Green (U2, Florence + the Machine, TV on the Radio), with longtime collaborator Josh Freese on drums.
For Howerdel, it came together with unusual ease. “Some songs get kicked around and massaged for years,” he says. “But once in a while, one takes shape quickly, as if it had been there all along.”
A limited-edition ‘Starless’ 7-inch is available now, featuring a custom etching of the band’s crescent logo on the B-side and a custom adapter, pressed on two variants: silver/black, and white with sea blue and black splatter.
Formed in 1999, A Perfect Circle announced themselves as a major new voice in alternative rock with Mer de Noms (2000), which debuted at #4 on the Billboard 200 as the highest-charting debut rock album of its time. Home to ‘Judith’, ‘3 Libras’ and ‘The Hollow’, that platinum-selling record still resonates, as does a catalogue that runs through Thirteenth Step (2003), eMOTIVe (2004) and 2018’s Eat the Elephant, which arrived at #3. They have headlined festivals worldwide and sold out the Hollywood Bowl, Madison Square Garden and Red Rocks along the way.
The 2026 run is sprawling, taking in Europe, the UK, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Hawaii. Both London Brixton dates have already sold out. Jehnny Beth, Reclus.É and A.A. Williams open across various European shows, while Puscifer join the bill for the late-year dates.
