Undisclosed Desires

"Undisclosed Desires"
Single by Muse
from the album The Resistance
Released 16 November 2009
Format CD, Digital download
Recorded 2009 at Studio Bellini, Lake Como, Italy
Genre
Length 3:56 (Album Version)
3:37 (Radio Edit)
Label Warner Bros., Helium-3
Writer(s) Matthew Bellamy
Producer(s) Muse
Muse singles chronology
"Uprising"
(2009)		 "Undisclosed Desires"
(2009)		 "Resistance"
(2010)
The Resistance track listing
"Resistance"
(2)		 "Undisclosed Desires"
(3)		 "United States of Eurasia"
(4)

"Undisclosed Desires", also known as "Undisclosed",[1][2] is a song by English alternative rock band Muse, featured on their 2009 fifth studio album The Resistance. The song was written by lead vocalist Matthew Bellamy, who has described the song as "quite a personal song about me and my girlfriend."[3] "Undisclosed Desires" was released as the second single from the album on 16 November 2009,[4] after "Uprising" in September. It made the UK charts at #49, making it their lowest charting single since "Cave" in 1999, though this could be viewed as a success as there was no physical release and it was not common at the time for a band to have more than one charting single from an album. It has, however achieved large success in Australia where it as since been certified Platinum and is Muse's highest charting single in that country.

Background and composition

In an interview with English music magazine Mojo, writer Matthew Bellamy described "Undisclosed Desires" as one of "some tracks [...] that really take an influence from contemporary R&B, and a little bit from the David Bowie Song "Ashes to Ashes" – heavy beats, syncopation, very melodic, rhythmic vocals," adding that "Dom [Howard, Muse drummer] has done all the drum programming. [...] It's the first song we've had where I don't play guitar or piano."[5] NME added, on the topic of the lack of guitar and piano, that "the song [is] built around electric drum patterns and some slap bass from Chris Wolstenholme."[6] Speaking about his slap bass contribution, Wolstenholme joked that "it's probably not ever been cool to play slap bass, [...] but on that song it just seemed to work so we kept it in."[6] When played live, Bellamy plays a keytar. Music magazine Q describe the song as having a "minimal and dance-y feel."[3] In the interview with Q, Bellamy also revealed the inspiration behind the song's lyrics, explaining that "it's actually quite a personal song about me and my girlfriend. I'm thinking people have had enough of geo-political stuff by the end of the album."[3] The style of the song has been compared to that of new wave band Depeche Mode,[7] including their song "New Life".[8]

Release and reception

"Undisclosed Desires" was first performed live at the first of the 2009 A Seaside Rendezvous concerts in the band's childhood hometown of Teignmouth on 4 September.[2] On 7 September, the song was played twice on BBC Radio 1 by Zane Lowe as part of the MuseNight programming.[2]

Since the album's release, the song has had a mixed reception by critics, with some chastising the R&B sound while others thought of it as too much of a departure from their already diverse sound. Andrew Leahey of music website allmusic described the song as "bizarre Timbaland-meets-Depeche Mode ambiance," using it as an example of the band's apparent "tendency to pile excess upon excess."[9] Reviewing for NME, Ben Patashnik noted "Undisclosed" as evidence of the band "try[ing] to reignite the low-down R&B of ‘Supermassive Black Hole’," which he also suggests "backfires."[10] Patashnik went on to criticize the song further, slating it as sounding like "something Timbaland might find down the back of his mixing desk."[10] Mojo, on the other hand, identified "Undisclosed" as one of the highlights of The Resistance, along with "United States of Eurasia" and "Uprising".[5] Q Magazine also described it favourably, calling it "a stark, gothic take (on Timbaland's style)". On 19 February 2010, "Undisclosed Desires" finished on the Hot30 Countdown at a peak of number 9.

Music video

The video, directed by French duo Jonas & François, depicts all 3 members of Muse in a rather unusual room where there are wires lying and hanging everywhere. Chris is playing slap bass in the corner next to a massive hamster wheel filled with bass guitars; Dom is alternating playing the drum kit and pushing more drums into the kit; and Matt is at the front, playing keytar and singing into two microphones taped together, with three glass frames in front of him labelled "Matt Close up", "Matt Mid shot" and "Matt Long shot", and a small area above him with eight microphones surrounding it, where he occasionally puts his hand in to snap his fingers. There is also a dancer dressed in extravagantly bright colours performing various dance moves. In addition, there are at least thirty monitors on the walls, showing the lyrics word-by-word, all seem to be out of sync execept two or three, but they are all right in sync chorus. At the beginning of the video Matt plugs a wire into his shoe. Sometimes a bleeding heart is seen in front of a white background.

Tracklist

CD single • digital download[11]
No. Title Length
1. "Undisclosed Desires"   3:56
2. "Undisclosed Desires" (The Big Pink Remix) 4:27
3. "Undisclosed Desires" (Thin White Duke Remix) 7:44
DE CD
No. Title Length
1. "Undisclosed Desires"   3:56
2. "Undisclosed Desires" (Live from Madrid)  
Muse.mu exclusive download[12]
No. Title Length
1. "Undisclosed Desires" (Album Version) 3:56
2. "Undisclosed Desires" (The Big Pink Remix) 4:30
3. "Undisclosed Desires" (Thin White Duke Remix) 7:40
4. "Undisclosed Desires" (Thin White Duke Remix (edit)) 4:51

Charts and certifications

Chart Position
Australian Singles Chart[13] 11
Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders)[13] 35
Belgian Singles Chart (Wallonia)[13] 18
Danish Singles Chart[13] 26
French Digital Singles Chart[14] 13
German Singles Chart 17
Italian Singles Chart[15] 10
New Zealand Singles Chart[13] 12
Swiss Singles Chart[13] 21
UK Singles Chart 49
UK Rock Chart[16] 1
U.S. Alternative Songs[17] 4
U.S. Rock Songs[17] 7

Year-end charts

Charts (2010) Position
Australian Singles Chart[18] 89

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[19] Platinum 70,000^
Italy (FIMI)[20] Gold 15,000*

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

Preceded by
"The Captain"
by Biffy Clyro		 UK Rock Chart
Number-One Single
22 November 2009 – 13 December 2009 		Succeeded by
"Killing in the Name"
by Rage Against The Machine

Personnel

Muse
Main production personnel

References

  1. ↑ Tom Kirk (Director) (14 September 2009). The Making of The Resistance (DVD). Warner Music Group.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Undisclosed Desires (song)". MuseWiki. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "42: Muse". Hot New Albums. MuseWiki (quoting Q). July 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
  4. ↑ "Undisclosed Desires – Out on 16th November". Muse. 2 November 2009. Retrieved 2 November 2009.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Progressive stadium rock three dream up album five". MuseWiki (quoting Mojo). July 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Muse new album – first listen". MuseWiki (quoting NME). 7 July 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
  7. ↑ "Jai ecoute le nouveau Muse". MuseWiki (quoting L'Express). July 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
  8. ↑ Ben Thompson (6 September 2009). "Muse: The Resistance". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
  9. ↑ Andrew Leahey. "The Resistance > Review". allmusic. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Ben Patashnik (18 September 2009). "Album review: Muse – 'The Resistance'". NME. Retrieved 20 October 2009.
  11. ↑ "Undisclosed Desires - EP". iTunes. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  12. ↑ "Undisclosed Desires - MP3". Muse.mu. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 Lescharts.com
  14. ↑ "French Download Single Top 50 – 27/02/2010" (in French). Lescharts. Retrieved 2010-03-06.
  15. ↑ http://acharts.us/song/52030
  16. ↑ Radio 1 – The Official Chart with Reggie Yates – UK Top 40 Rock Singles Chart. BBC. Retrieved on 2010-12-05.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Undisclosed Desires – Muse. Billboard.com. Retrieved on 2010-12-05.
  18. ↑ "ARIA Charts – End Of Year Charts – Top 100 Singles 2010". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 2011-01-08.
  19. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2010 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  20. ↑ "Italian single certifications – Muse – Undiscolsed Desires" (in Italian). Federation of the Italian Music Industry. Retrieved 28 November 2014. Select Online in the field Sezione. Enter Muse in the field Filtra. The certification will load automatically

External links

Official
Other