Will Of The People

Muse

Released on 26/08/2022 by Warner Records
Main artists: Muse
Genre: Alternative & Indie

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Geopolitics, uprisings and ominous warnings for the future are nothing new for Muse. But what a ripe time it is for a record that is the rock and roll equivalent of doom-scrolling. (If you're anxiety prone, you might want to move on.) The title track sounds so much like Marilyn Manson's "The Beautiful People" you'll do a double take—and it's not a great time to ape Manson—but also mixes in high-camp glam rock in satirizing the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riots: "Welcome to the desecration, baby/ We'll build you right up and we'll tear you down/ Welcome to the celebration, baby/ The chances are turning, this future is ours." It's grotesque and catchy as hell. Synth-heavy "Compliance" likewise seems like a parody recruitment anthem for the QAnon crowd: "Come join our clique, we'll keep you safe from harm/ Our toy soldier, you'll do the dirty work." Frontman Matt Bellamy recently predicted to NME that the "End is coming …You're talking about an economic collapse, shift and reinvention, total energy transition. That's really what we're dealing with here: a disruptive transition." So why not write the soundtrack, right? There's sincerity in the Freddie Mercury-esque (think: operatic backing vocals and Broadway-worthy power chords) "Liberation," with its focus on how Black Lives Matter inspired a movement to reinvent the present and future. On the glowing "Verona"—as in the hometown of Romeo and Juliet—Bellamy's falsetto reaches for the rafters as he sings about romance at the height of the COVID era: "We're running away/ Take off your clothes and take off your mask/ It's not over now, I won't leave you in the dark/ Because I need you so/ Can we kiss, contagion on our lips." "You Make Me Feel Like It's Halloween," meanwhile, employs fright-show organ, '80s Cheez Whiz synth and a heavy-handed vocal filter to, according to Bellamy, portray pandemic lockdown domestic violence as a real-life horror movie. Fuzz-heavy "Won't Stand Down" evolves into a nü-metal like bridge, "Euphoria" lives up to its name with Eurovision grandiloquence, and "Kill or Be Killed" finds Bellamy doing his best Thom Yorke against a backdrop of battering-ram guitars. The band shifts the bombastic dynamics on "Ghosts (How Can I Move On)," a fluttering piano ballad about being haunted by regrets after losing someone. But in the end, they're ready to remind you that "We Are Fucking Fucked"—a nervous and claustrophobic number that should be subtitled "The Californian's Lament": "We're at death's door, another world war/ Wildfires and earthquakes I foresaw/ A life in crisis, a deadly virus/ Tsunamis of hate are gonna find us." © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz

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Will Of The People

Muse

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Will Of The People