Q36

Q36 is the fourth studio album by the Rentals. The album's release stretched from November 5, 2019 to June 26, 2020, as its tracks were released one-by-one at a pace of roughly two each month. Matt Sharp wrote the album and receives a producing credit. He worked with a core band consisting of Nick Zinner of the , mixer/engineer Dave Fridmann, and drummer Ronnie Vannucci of The Killers. The lyrics on Q36 incorporate science fiction themes, including the lead single "Elon Musk is Making Me Sad," which, as of June 2023, is the band's second-most streamed on Spotify behind "Friends of P." "Elon Musk is Making Me Sad" makes reference to a , which may be the origin of the album's title.
==Overview==
The Rentals' fourth album was announced alongside the release of the single "Elon Musk Is Making Me Sad" on October 4, 2017.The Rentals. Tumblr. 4 October 2017. Archived by Wayback Machine 17 May 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190517053613/https://therentalsmusic.tumblr.com/ Rentals frontman Matt Sharp tweeted about the album's production at various points throughout 2018, indicating that the album would be engineered by Dave Fridmann, who had previously engineered Weezer's Pinkerton.@_mattsharp "true story: fridmann’s mixing console has been searching for signs of extraterrestrial life, the entire time we’ve been working on @therentals
 new album ®️📡✨" Twitter. 1 October 2018. https://twitter.com/_mattsharp/status/1046791338455441414 On December 20 of 2018, Sharp tweeted that the mastering had been finished at Sterling Sound in Nashville, Tennessee. @_mattsharp "the final frontier, last day @sterlingsound" Twitter. 20 December 2018. https://twitter.com/_mattsharp/status/1075820765260472320
In an interview with The Interplanetary Podcast, Sharp explained that he started forming the album by starting with 50 song ideas.Russell, Matt. "#167 - Matt Sharp - Q36" The Interplanetary Podcast. 9 January 2020. https://www.interplanetary.org.uk/post/167-matt-sharp-q36 Sharp said that his one rule for these new songs was that nothing could be autobiographical, explaining that he had grown bored of writing about his own lived experiences and perspective. Sharp also mentioned that he first became acquainted with guitarist Nick Zinner at a New Years party shortly after Zinner's band the Yeah Yeah Yeahs had performed a live cover of the Rentals song "The Love I'm Searching For" in 2006. Years later, Sharp contacted Zinner again and convinced him to work on the album. Sharp and Zinner worked on the songs independently in their own respective home studios. According to Sharp, engineer Dave Fridmann agreed to work on the album immediately after Sharp pitched the idea of a space-themed album featuring Zinner.
The album's title was formally unveiled on November 5, 2019 alongside the new single "Spaceships", with pre-orders made available via the band's Bandcamp page. The next single, "Forgotten Astronaut", was unveiled on November 20, 2019, with each subsequent "single" released every other week with an accompanying limited-run clothing/merchandise item designed by illustrator and print designer Ivan Minsloff. On March 24, 2020, the album's physical release and eleventh single were postponed due to the 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19).@_mattsharp "Good People, a quick update: To give a little extra space and breathing room, during these crazy times, to our partners that make @therentals Q36 possible, we are moving everything back two weeks. ®️ next single will come out on April 7 and the vinyl shipping date is now June 16." Twitter. 24 March 2020. https://twitter.com/_mattsharp/status/1242491986218606593
During the course of the album's release cycle, the band created challenges for fans in conjunction with the collaborative media platform HitRecord."Q36 - The Rentals" HITRECORD. https://hitrecord.org/productions/4013371
On March 31, 2020, a digital EP for the song "Forgotten Astronaut" was released on Spotify and Bandcamp.
==Track listing==
==Personnel==
*Matt Sharp - vocals, production
*Nick Zinner - guitar
*Ronnie Vannucci - drums
*The Gentle Assassins Choir - vocals
**Jeffrey Adams (Track 16)
**Ayo Awosika
**Laura Burhenn
**Alejandra Deheza
**Arlene Deradoorian
**Lizzy Ellison
**Bridget Galanis
**Zachary Galanis (Track 16)
**Jose Galvez
**Gotch (Track 12)
**Ted Gowans (Track 16)
**Jamie Jackson (Track 16)
**Andrew James
**Keith Murray
**Colleen Police (Track 16)
**Ryen Slegr
**Shon Sullivan
**Nedelle Torrisi (Track 16)
**Sydney Wayser
**Tim Wheeler
*The Section Quartet - strings
**Eric Gorfain - violin
**Daphne Chen - violin
**Leah Katz - viola
**Richard Dodd - cello
*Dave Fridmann - mixing engineer
*Adam Brook - engineer (choir)
*Robert Root - engineer (drums)
*Paul DuGre - engineer (strings)
*Ryan Smith - mastering
*Andrew Wilkinson - cover art
==Z36==
On January 7, 2020, Matt Sharp announced via social media@_mattsharp "I’m remixing a series of songs from @therentals
 Q36 album. The remixes have a more atmospheric approach that focus primarily on Nick Zinner’s guitars and my synthesizers. I’m filing them all under the title “Z36.” Here’s the Z36 ®️EMIX for INVASION NIGHT:" Twitter 7 January 2020. https://twitter.com/_mattsharp/status/1214572663382757376 that he would be remixing a series of songs from Q36 and releasing them under the title Z36, beginning with the track "Invasion Night". Said Sharp, "The remixes have a more atmospheric approach that focus primarily on Nick Zinner’s guitars and my synthesizers."
#"Invasion Night"
#"Great Big Blue"
#"Another World"
#"Forgotten Astronaut"
#"Information (and the Island in the Sky)"
#"Shake Your Diamonds"
==See also==
*The Rentals
*List of Matt Sharp songs
==External links==
*Q36 on Bandcamp
==References==
Category:Matt Sharp
Category:The Rentals albums
Category: 2020 releases