Hear Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Lost, Navarro-Era ‘Circle of the Noose’

“Circle of the Noose,” a previously unreleased, five-minute song from the sessions to follow up Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ One Hot Minute, has made its way online. The laidback, jammy, Led Zeppelin-y track, which YouTube user RHCPtv 5 uploaded, finds Anthony Kiedis singing tableaus depicting dragonflies, laughing dogs and storms, paving the way for a cutting, bluesy solo by then-guitarist Dave Navarro. A representative for the group confirmed the track’s authenticity.

The musician, who has since rejoined Jane’s Addiction, reacted positively to the discovery on Twitter. “WOW, what a trip down memory lane!” he wrote in reply to the poster. “Thanks :)” The guitarist has previously referred to the track as the “greatest pop song I’ve ever been part of,” according to NME.

Navarro played in Red Hot Chili Peppers from 1993 to 1998, the third in a succession of guitarists who stepped in to fill the shoes of John Frusciante, who had departed the group mid-tour after they released Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Navarro parted ways with the Chili Peppers in 1998 in an effort to focus on a new project titled Spread. “I still love those guys to death and being a Chili Pepper was one of the best experiences of my life,” Navarro said at the time (via MTV). “But in making [Spread’s debut], I uncovered different areas of creativity that I want to explore.” The Spread album never came out.

The guitarist later explained that he had been fired from the group over drug use and musical differences. “[Singer] Anthony [Kiedis] says it was because I tripped and fell over an amp while on drugs,” Navarro told NME in 2010. “I say that he was on more drugs than me at that point. We both had a loose relationship with reality. Who do you want to believe?”

The Chili Peppers, with current guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, are working on a record to follow 2011’s I’m With You, with Danger Mouse producing. “It’s cool,” Flea told Rolling Stone of the new music in 2014. “It’s super danceable, funky shit and some real introspective, pretty stuff. It feels good, man, and it’s fun to play it.”