Shirley Manson Sings On New ‘American Gods’ Song, “Queen Of The Bored”

Garbage’s Shirley Manson is making her return to television. Not as an actor this time, but rather as the voice singing over the American Gods soundtrack. Starz just premiered a new show called American Gods, based on Neil Gaiman’s 2001 novel of the same name. Composer Brian Reitzell teamed up with Shirley Manson for “Queen Of The Bored,” a sarcastic and sassy rock song about being too cool for school.

Listen to “Queen Of The Bored” below:

Shirley Manson recently spoke to On Top Magazine about her two American Gods contributions. In addition to recording “Queen Of The Bored,” Shirley also recorded a song, “Tehran 1978,” with Debbie Harry of Blondie. We can expect to hear that disco duet soon.

I read that you recently recorded a disco track for the season finale of American Gods with Debbie.

I was asked if I wanted to come in and sing with her, and of course, who turns that opportunity down? It was an incredible honor for me and phenomenal to be on a disco track with her, queen of that scene. Even though we think of Blondie as sort of post-punk, they were also one of the first to start to incorporate disco into that post-punk sound. They’re real pioneers.

And you provided the vocals for the show’s title music.

I did. It’s all been such a crazy ride. The show is phenomenal. It’s kind of
mind-blowing and something very new, and so to get landed that opportunity to come and sing on the main title sequence for something that feels very exciting was most unexpected. I’m so proud to be working with Brian Reitzell, the composer, and [executive producer] Bryan Fuller, who is just an incredible mind.

American Gods just premiered on Stars on April 30th. The show airs each Sunday. Its soundtrack album will be available June 16th via Milan Records. In addition to Shirley Manson and Debbie Harry, it also features Mark Lanegan on three songs. See the full tracklist below. You can buy “Queen Of The Bored” on iTunes or stream it on Spotify now.

  1. “Main Title Theme”
  2. “Out Of Time”
  3. “Gumball”
  4. “In The Pines” (ft. Mark Lanegan)
  5. “Shopping”
  6. “Bilquis Gets To Work”
  7. “Salim Waits”
  8. “Salim And Jinn”
  9. “St. James Infirmary Blues” (ft. Mark Lanegan)
  10. “Queen Of The Bored” (ft. Shirley Manson)
  11. “Laura’s Affair”
  12. “Nunnyunnini”
  13. “Media Bowie”
  14. “Wednesday Heals Shadow”
  15. “Vulcan”
  16. “I Put A Spell On You” (ft. Mark Lanegan)
  17. “Essie Accused”
  18. “Bilquis Orgy”
  19. “Tehran 1978 (ft. Debbie Harry and Shirley Manson)
  20. “There Here Finale”

Meanwhile, Garbage is touring North America with Blondie this summer. Check out all dates and get tickets before it’s too late!

Garbage released their last album, Strange Little Birds, one year ago. It gave us singles “Empty” and “Magnetized.” Garbage is already working on new music. The band also has a new book coming out this summer. Be sure to pick up This Is The Noise That Keeps Me Awake on July 4th.

Hidden Jams

Hidden Jams is a music blog for super fans. Check out our new merch store for all of us who love music. Click "Hidden Jams" above or the image on the left to see our store.

Hidden Jams has 1450 posts and counting. See all posts by Hidden Jams

Sound Off!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.