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The new Muse album thread - Black Holes and Revelations
As we have such a legion of fans on OTF I thought the new album deserved it's own thread?
Anyway the as yet untitled album is out on July 3rd and it has been announced today that the first single to ne taken from it will be Supermassive Black Hole on June 19th coupled with that they're confirmed for Reading/Leeds and this years Radio 1 Big Weekend and there is speculation of an appearance at the Eden Project Sessions thing with a tour expected sometime very soon.
Quote:
Muse Hope Fans Aren't Too Shocked By 'Genre-Morphing' New LP
Many bands will tell you that, long before they head into the studio to start recording a new album, they'll test the waters a bit. Maybe they'll experiment with exotic instrumentation, tinker with different musical styles and challenge the overall direction of the sound they've already established - ideally without alienating their fanbase.
Over the years, Muse fans have come to expect the band to push the proverbial envelope. And the thunderous British rock trio have abided, consistently expanding their sonic reach and releasing LPs that pull from diverse influences including Radiohead, Black Sabbath and Queen.
But even Muse's most adventurous fans might be surprised by the group's forthcoming LP, which was recorded in New York last October with Rich Costey (Franz Ferdinand, Cave In).
"The diversity of the album and some of the directions we've discovered and gone for might shock [our fans] in some way," drummer Dominic Howard explained. "Hopefully, it will be a nice shock — ultimately all of them sound like Muse. We reached a point where we were looking at all these songs and how different they sounded, and we were wondering how this was ever going to sound like a band, like one album. But somehow it really does."
Muse — who are currently mixing the yet-untitled follow-up to 2003's Absolution — spent a number of months writing "in this old chateau that's hours away from civilization" in the south of France, Howard said. The band brought 16 tracks to New York, and the dramatic change of scenery helped shape the end product — which will probably feature 11 cuts when it hits stores in July.
"When we moved into this crazy, claustrophobic, fast-paced way of living, we absorbed some of that energy and that affected the recording," Howard said of the move to New York. "If we had stayed in the south of France, we would have taken five years to finish the record. [There,] we spent a lot of time just discovering what we were going to do, sitting around and chatting about where we wanted to take the band and which direction certain songs should follow."
The material, Howard said, is a "very drastic" mix of musical styles: Some tracks border on "mellow jazz," while others are at the opposite end of the spectrum, sounding like "Prince-influenced, groove-based rock weirdness." The work of influential Italian film composer Ennio Morricone ("The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," "The Untouchables") inspired the space-prog tune "The Knights of Cydonia." And on "Take a Bow," which calls on world leaders to take responsibility for their actions, Muse move through three musical stages: starting off as a classical piece before moving into a techno mid-section and an "apocalyptic rock" ending.
Howard said the band is currently putting the finishing touches on the disc and deliberating which song to release as the first single. Muse will debut some of the new material this summer during a number of European festival appearances, and the group plans to tour the U.S. this fall.
Can't sum up how excited I am about this :thup:
04-24-2006, 08:30 PM
The new Muse album thread - Black Holes and Revelations Post #2
Vocalist/guitarist Matt Bellamy, bassist Chris Wolstenholme and drummer Dom Howard, have been holed up in a West London studio mixing the as-yet-untitled follow-up to 2003's 'Absolution'.
The band invited Kerrang! to an exclusive first listen of six completed tracks, including 'Hex', 'A Soldier's Poem', 'Demonocracy', 'Supermassive Blackhole', 'Knights of Cydonia' and an as-yet-untitled track. The new material sees Bellamy and his bandmates expanding upon the innovative sound of their previous three records.
"We've got to a point where we're pretty much free to do whatever we like," muses Matt Bellamy. "It was difficult because we wanted every song to be different to what we've done before. I think we've managed to do that. With the range we've shown on previous albums, I think we've got the freedom to go into areas other bands would consider risky. Previously, we consciously thought about which songs would work live but this time we just went for it. We'll worry about how to play them live later."
In September, the trio worked on song ideas at Château Miraval in Provence, France, before decamping to New York's Avatar and Electric Lady studios with 'Absolution' producer Rick Costey to record the bulk of the album."
"Château Miraval was where Pink Floyd recorded 'The Wall'," Bellamy says. "The studio was set next to a vineyard and was full of ghosts. The owner was this moody old geezer who didn't seem to want us there and kept interrupting us when we were writing the album."
"They had very good local wine, though," adds Howard. "We just spent a lot of time sitting around getting ****ed and coming up with ideas. It was a great way to do things."
However, the band's initial preparations were disrupted by a group of unexpected visitors to the studio...
"There were so many bats flying around the rehearsal room while we were trying to work," laughs Wolstenholme. "We didn't know where they were coming from. They're completely silent so all of a sudden, they'd be flapping around our faces. We haven't stayed in touch though!"
The most surprising track that Muse played Kerrang! was 'Knights of Cydonia', which Blemmay reveals will most likely close the album. Taking its cues from Mariachi bands and the 'Doctor Who' theme tune, the track sounds like a soundtrack to a spaghetti western set in the far reaches of the galaxy nd features a chain-smoking trumpeter called Franco.
"Did you hear the galloping horses and bombs going off?" the frontman asks. "That song is influenced by '50s music and my dad's band The Tornados [legendary UK instrumental chart-toppers]. In the '50s, the nuclear vibe was kicking off and ther was a lot of fear. It also happened to be a period where the most UFO sightings were reported."
"I feel we're entering another period where tensions are rising to a very high level and UFO sightings will start to creep back," Bellamy adds. "Aliens are definitely out there!"
and an interview with Chris
Quote:
Silent since their last interview in May 2005, the English Muse worked hard and are finishing the after Absolution, which could land near the 27th of May. From the mixing studio, Chris Wolstenholme speaks the first to give us a first taste of their 4th album.
RM : How long have you been in studio ?
CW : We entered in August in the Miraval Studio, in southern France, after a break to rest after the Tour. We had several songs we wanted to work with while writing other ones. We lived in the studio provided with a wonderful site. During a big month, we essentially rehearsed while recording from time to time, when ideas were getting concreted. In fact, the biggest part of this recording took place in New York until Christmas. It was greatly concentrated on the album, in the hotel to think about new ideas or in the studio to work with them. We hardly disconnected from the album. After the Christmas rest, we went to London to mix and we are still there doing it. If it goes on, we shall have spent almost as much time mixing as recording !!
RM : you take your time, we can see …
CW : Yes, we decided to do so for this album. We wanted to take our time to put down our ideas, try things and be sure until the end we could get a pleasant result, without hurrying. Showbiz and Origin of Symetry had been recorded rapidly and since Absolution, we prefer to have a cooler pace. We already have 20 finished songs, but nothing is definite. We are going to mix them before choosing what will appear or won't appear in the album.
RM : you work with Rich Costley, who produced your last album.
CW : yes, we keep it because he really did a good job for Absolution. We had many producers until now, working on two following albums with the same one is a little bit different. Rich’s main quality is a very good technician doubled with a real musician. As a matter of fact, he gets involved more in what we are creating, and his advices about arrangements, as melodies, are constructive. He perfectly understands music which is not the same situation about other producers.
RM : Did you give a title to the album ? Rumours on Internet talked about Equilibrium…
CW : We don’t want to think about it now. We shall see later about it, about the presentation, the single, the clip and such things. First of all, we must decide a definitive tracklisting, et then finish the mixing. In fact, we are not sure at all about the album date release !
RM : What were you listening to while you were in studio ?
CW : To be frank, we were exclusively concentrated about our own music. When we listened to stuff, it was rather music from the 50’s and 60’s, in the style of Joe Meek’s produces (the first English independent producer, he particularly founded the Tornados, the band where Matt’s father, Georges played). Kill Bill’s music also marked us as well as Nancy Sinatra’s influences on one or two songs of the album.
RM : During the treasure hunt you organized during this even Tour, you showed that you love codes, anagrams, enigmas and hidden secrets. Will there be those kinds of things in the album or in the presentation ?
CW : This treasure hunt was a big frenzy, a game. It was great to see so many people were taking part into it. Will we do it in the album ? Probably no. But we never know, it could be funny after all.
RM : The last communication noticed in your site from the 23rd of February nevertheless gives a feeling of secret where we hardly understand what is written… Since last week, many fans in forum try to decipher.
CW (while laughing) : Seriously ? No, there is no message at all. Defining an album, above all in which we have been drowned into it since months, this is not so simple. So, we decided to put anything in the message, private jokes as well as completely invented things, we don’t even know what we meant while writing them !
RM : Did you try new stuffs during those sessions ?
CW : We put trumpet in two songs… and we also used much Buchla synthesizers (created in 1963, the Buchla was the first one especially done for a musician, without the help of a professional electronics engineer).
RM : How would you define the new album ?
CW : It is once more difficult to answer, all the more than we don’t know which songs will be in it. We can’t say it is a rock album, nor a piano album… What is sure, it is less oriented in classics than Absolution and it is mainly more positive. Anyway, it ought to be difficult to do a more negative one than Absolution ! (laughs).
RM : when do you intend to set off on Tour ?
CW : As soon as the album release. During the last Tour, we have much stayed in USA. We haven’t participated in gigs in Europe for a long time, and we miss them a lot. This summer, if everything is alright, we shall play in several festivals.
04-24-2006, 08:42 PM
The new Muse album thread - Black Holes and Revelations Post #6
On the Reading/Leeds side of things, anyone planning to do the day they play Reading and the day they play Leeds? If so any advice on travel arrangements etc? Is there coaches laid on or owt? Will be the first time i've done individual days at a festival
The new Muse album thread - Black Holes and Revelations 
New Biffy will be awesome too though, probably my two favourite bands
Linear Mode
