Drones (Muse album)

Drones
Studio album by Muse
Released 8 June 2015
Recorded 3 October 2014 – 1 April 2015[1][2]
Studio The Warehouse Studio
(Vancouver, British Columbia)[3]
Label
Producer
Muse chronology

Live at Rome Olympic Stadium
(2013)		 Drones
(2015)
Singles from Drones
  1. "Dead Inside"
    Released: 23 March 2015

Drones is the upcoming seventh studio album by English alternative rock band Muse.[4][5] The album was co-produced by the band and Robert John "Mutt" Lange,[5][6][7] and will be released on 8 June 2015 in the United Kingdom.[8] The album art was designed by American artist Matt Mahurin.[9][10]

Background and recording

On their previous albums The Resistance (2009) and The 2nd Law (2012), Muse experimented with orchestral and electronic music.[11][12] In December 2013, Muse released a live album and film, Live at Rome Olympic Stadium; songwriter Matthew Bellamy said the band wanted the live album "to capture some of the extremes of what we've been doing since we want to go in a different direction in the future."[11]

Muse began writing their seventh album soon after the Rome concert. Bellamy stated that the album "should be something that really does strip away the additional things that we've experimented with on the last two albums... I kind of feel like it will be nice to reconnect and remind ourselves of just the basics of who we are".[11]

In October 2014, Muse entered The Warehouse Studio in Vancouver in order to record the material they had written.[3][13] After their last two albums were both self-produced, Muse decided to work with producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange on Drones.[14][15][16] The first recording session ended on 19 October, with the band calling it "emotional".[17] Muse re-entered the studio in November 2014.[18] On 1 April 2015, drummer Dominic Howard and mixer Rich Costey indicated on their Instagram accounts that they had finished mixing the album.[1][2]

Themes

Answering fan questions on Twitter in September 2014, Bellamy said the album's themes include deep ecology, the empathy gap, and World War III.[19] In March 2015, Bellamy said:

“ To me, "Drones" are metaphorical psychopaths which enable psychopathic behaviour with no recourse. The world is run by Drones utilizing Drones to turn us all into Drones. This album explores the journey of a human, from their abandonment and loss of hope, to their indoctrination by the system to be a human drone, to their eventual defection from their oppressors.[20] ”

Placing the record's lead single "Dead Inside" within the larger narrative of the album later that month, he said:

“ This is where the story of the album begins, where the protagonist loses hope and becomes 'Dead Inside', therefore vulnerable to the dark forces introduced in 'Psycho' and which ensue over the next few songs on the album, before eventually defecting, revolting and overcoming these dark forces later in the story".[7] ”

In a telephone interview with BBC Radio 1's Annie Mac on the day of the single's release, Bellamy commented on the album's themes in similar vein, calling it "a modern metaphor for what it is to lose empathy". Elaborating that "through modern technology, and obviously through drone warfare in particular, it’s possible to actually do quite horrific things by remote control, at a great distance, without actually feeling any of the consequences, or even feeling responsible in some way," he added that "[t]he next step in drones is gonna be autonomous drones, which actually make ‘kill’ decisions themselves, where no humans are involved".[21]

Promotion

On 26 January 2015, Muse revealed the album title in an Instagram video featuring a mixing desk with audio samples and a screen stating "Artist - Muse, Album - Drones."[22] Muse began using the hashtag "#MuseDrones" on Twitter and Instagram.[23][24] On 8 March, the band shared a snippet of a new song, "Psycho", and mentioned "mixing with a very tight deadline".[25]

On 12 March 2015, Muse released a lyric video for "Psycho" on their YouTube channel, and made the song available for instant download with the album pre-order.[26] From 15 to 24 March, the band played six concerts in small venues in the UK, labelled as the Psycho UK Tour.[20] On 23 March 2015, " Dead Inside" was released as the album's official lead single along with a lyric video on their Youtube channel.[27][28]

Track listing

No. Title Length
1. "Dead Inside"   4:23
2. "[Drill Sergeant]"    
3. "Psycho"   5:16
4. "Mercy"    
5. "Reapers"    
6. "The Handler"    
7. "[JFK]"    
8. "Defector"    
9. "Revolt"    
10. "Aftermath"    
11. "The Globalist"    
12. "Drones"    

Personnel

Muse
Additional personnel

Release history

Region Date Format Label
Australia[29] 5 June 2015 CD, LP, digital download Warner Bros.
Austria[30]
Finland[31]
Germany[32]
Ireland[33]
Netherlands[34]
New Zealand[35]
Switzerland[36]
United Kingdom[8] 8 June 2015
France[37]
Poland[38]
Canada[39] 9 June 2015
Italy[40]
Japan[41]
Spain[42]
United States[43]
Norway[44] 10 June 2015
Sweden[45]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Dom Howard Instagram". Instagram. 1 April 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Rich Costey Instagram". Instagram. 1 April 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Muse are finish with the first session of the new album!". Matter of Sound. 19 October 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  4. ↑ Sharp, Tyler (5 February 2015). "Muse to release new album, 'Drones'". Alternative Press. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Khomami, Nadia (26 January 2015). "Muse confirm new album title 'Drones' in latest in-the-studio video". NME. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  6. ↑ Carter, Emily (6 February 2015). "Muse Confirm Seventh Album, Drones". Kerrang!. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Davidson, Amy (5 February 2015). "Muse appear to confirm Drones as new album title with cryptic photos". Gigwise. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Britton, Luke Morgan (11 March 2015). "Muse announce new album 'Drones' for June and confirm live dates beginning Sunday". NME. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  9. ↑ Mahurin, Matt (6 February 2015). "MUSE PROJECT". mattmahurin.com. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  10. ↑ Shutler, Ali (8 February 2015). "Matt Mahurin will be behind the artwork for Muse's new album 'Drones'". DIY. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Greene, Andy (2 December 2013). "Muse Singer Matt Bellamy: Live DVD Completes an 'Upside-Down Journey'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  12. ↑ "Muse: 'Our new album is set for Classic FM'". NME. 2 March 2009. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  13. ↑ Brandle, Lars (6 October 2014). "Muse Returns to the Studio". Billboard. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  14. ↑ Renshaw, David (24 October 2014). "Muse working with AC/DC producer on new studio album". NME. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  15. ↑ Trendell, Andrew (24 October 2014). "Muse working with AC/DC producer Robert 'Mutt' Lange on new album". Gigwise. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  16. ↑ Goodacre, Kate (26 October 2014). "Muse join forces with producer Mutt Lange for new studio album". Digital Spy. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  17. ↑ Van Nguyen, Dean (19 October 2014). "Muse complete 'emotional' first session for new album". NME. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  18. ↑ Trendell, Andrew (5 November 2014). "Muse 'back in action' in studio to finish seventh album". Gigwise. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  19. ↑ Khomami, Nadia (5 February 2015). "Muse confirm new album title 'Drones' on Instagram". NME. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Morris, Andy; Trendell, Andrew (11 March 2015). "Muse announce Drones album and UK Psycho Tour". Gigwise. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  21. ↑ Britton, Luke Morgan (24 March 2015). "Muse say new album 'Drones' is 'a modern metaphor for what it is to lose empathy'". NME. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  22. ↑ "Muse Instagram video". Instagram. 26 January 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  23. ↑ "#MuseDrones Instagram". Instagram. 4 February 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  24. ↑ "#MuseDrones Twitter". Twitter. 4 February 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  25. ↑ ""Psycho" Instagram video". Instagram. 8 March 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  26. ↑ "Muse - Psycho [Official Lyric Video]". YouTube. 2015-03-12. Retrieved 2015-03-12.
  27. ↑ Cooper, Leonie (23 March 2015). "Muse unveil new single 'Dead Inside' - listen". NME. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  28. ↑ "Muse - Dead Inside [Official Lyric Video]". YouTube. 2015-03-23. Retrieved 2015-03-24.
  29. ↑ http://muse.zoopcommerce.com/products/drones-cd.html
  30. ↑ https://www.weltbild.at/artikel/musik/drones_20238776-1
  31. ↑ http://www.levykauppax.fi/artist/muse/drones/#cd
  32. ↑ http://www.amazon.de/Drones-Muse/dp/B00UHZMGBY/
  33. ↑ "Drones by Muse". iTunes (IE). Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  34. ↑ http://www.bol.com/nl/p/drones/9200000040504330/
  35. ↑ https://shop.jbhifi.co.nz/music/alternative/drones-deluxe-edition/88071
  36. ↑ http://www.exlibris.ch/de/musik/cd/muse/drones/id/0825646121250
  37. ↑ http://www.amazon.fr/Drones-Muse/dp/B00UHZMGBY/
  38. ↑ "Nowy album Muse "Drones" Premiera w czerwcu" (in Polish). Warner Music Poland. 12 March 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  39. ↑ http://www.amazon.ca/Drones-Muse/dp/B00UHZMGBY/
  40. ↑ http://www.amazon.it/Drones-Muse/dp/B00UHZMGBY/
  41. ↑ http://www.amazon.co.jp/Drones-Muse/dp/B00UHZMGBY/
  42. ↑ http://www.amazon.es/Drones-Muse/dp/B00UHZMGBY/
  43. ↑ Payne, Chris (11 March 2015). "Muse Reveals Release Date, Art & Track List for New 'Drones' Album". Billboard. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  44. ↑ http://cdon.no/musikk/muse/drones_%282lp%29-32844227
  45. ↑ http://cdon.se/musik/muse/drones_%282lp%29-32844227