MUSE's experimental new sound is more monster than marvel

MUSE’s experimental new sound is more monster than marvel

August 26, 2022 Category: Albums, Reviews

Muse

MUSE

Will Of The People (Warner/Helium-3)

Muse’s 2018 album Simulation Theory felt like they were navigating from an unknown reality. With this follow-up, Will Of The People, the Teignmouth trio pull together previously-experimented-with sounds in response to their label requesting a best of album.

Their poppier side is accounted for on Compliance, there’s theatrics thanks to the glam rock vocals of Liberation, and Will Of The People’s title track is unsettling less because of how it sounds, but by resembling a remake of Marilyn Manson’s The Beautiful People.

As before, Will Of The People raises political themes from Muse: uncertainty and societal instability, weighty topics with a polished presentation. Pre-album taster Won’t Stand Down reintroduces Muse into heavier progressive territory, Matt Bellamy’s iconic falsetto is present and correct though a heavier, distorted vocal adds much-needed dynamics. The fierce Kill Or Be Killed’s mix of hard rock and electronics is another highlight, but the adjacent, organ-led You Make Me Feel Like It’s Halloween is hilariously flat: think 80s Halloween, but more trick than treat.

words EMMA WAY

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