After nearly two years since Stone Temple Pilots launched the search for a new singer, the pieces have fallen into place. The group made their debut with Jeff Gutt up front last night (Nov. 14) in Los Angeles and have now shared "Meadow," their first new song together.

The three-and-a-half minute cut boasts a deep, rolling groove that gently cruises along at mid-pace, like its awaiting the open road and gleaming sun as seen on the single artwork. Gutt's deep, nasal-toned vocal invokes the familiar feeling of the late Scott Weiland, but the singer is far from just a mere clone and shies away from pale imitations. It's over the bright chorus where Gutt's voice really comes alive, moving beyond subdued tones with a more forceful effort that highlights what he's capable of.

Those in attendance at last night's show at the Troubadour got a 13 song introduction to the new singer. STP opened their set with "Down," running through a number of other all-time hits, as well as debuting "Meadow" and squeezing in a cover, MC5's "Kick Out the Jams."

When we spoke with guitarist Dean DeLeo, he detailed the process of finding the new Stone Temple Pilots singer. "It was arduous. It was a lot of work," he began. "We didn't hire people. We didn't have assistance. We didn't have management to go through that. Rob or Eric and I personally went through tens of thousands of submissions. Not once, but twice. I probably have 100 hours in total logged behind my computer going through them," said the guitarist. "We did go through those submissions and there was some very talented people, some extraordinary talented people that we got to see. But it was a lot of work, man."

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