Difference between pages "Muscle Museum (song)" and "Will of the People (album)"

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<i>This page is about the song. For other Muscle Museum releases, see [[Muscle Museum (releases)]].</i>
[[File:WOTP_Monogram.jpg|thumb|right|The album's monogram]]
[[File:MUSE 2022 2000-696x442.jpg|thumb|right|First WOTP promo pic for Won't Stand Down<ref>https://www.instagram.com/p/CYb-0PFL5xU/</ref>]]
{{Discobox
| Name = Will of the People<ref>https://www.instagram.com/p/CbLgvvBqtzI/</ref>
| Tracks = 10
| Length = TBA
| Recorded = 2021
| Writer = [[Matthew Bellamy]], [[Dominic Howard]], [[Christopher Wolstenholme]]
| Producer = Muse, [[Aleks Von Korff]]
| Art = TBA
| Publisher = [[Helium 3]], [[Warner Music Group|Warner]]
|Format = TBA
|CatNumber = TBA
| Release = 2022 / TBA
| Chart = N/A
| Previous = Simulation Theory
| PreviousLink = Simulation Theory (album)
| Next =
| NextLink =
| single1 = Won't Stand Down | image1 = WontStandDown.jpg
| Type = album
}}
 
== Information ==
 
Matt first hinted at working on new Muse material in an interview with ALT 98.7 FM, backstage at the ALTerEGO Festival in January of 2020, where he said, that the goal for 2020 was to work on new Muse material, allthough the plans were probably halted due to the coronavirus pandemic, as the three were unable to get together due to the lockdowns. Bellamy instead focused on releasing his solo material. Matt also hinted on working on Muse material in a May interview with Zane Lowe, on Beats 1 Radio, saying that he has a few pieces written that are suited for Muse.<ref>https://youtu.be/wGHqxU-63HM?t=292</ref> In an interview with Rolling Stone, also in May, he said that that the idea would be to record the album in 2021 and potentially go on a tour in 2022.<ref>https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/muse-matt-bellamy-interview-coronavirus-quarantine-999208/</ref>
 
Bellamy confirmed he started writing the new Muse album in an interview with [[The Jaded Hearts Club|The Jaded Hearts Club Band]] for The Sun.<ref>https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/12884819/matt-bellamy-thought-jaded-hearts-club-were-the-beatles/</ref> He also hinted at the band working on the next album in a brief Instagram comment in March 2021.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/Muse/comments/lxdvdb/new_album_on_the_way_confirmed/</ref>
 
In the interview, Bellamy said the following: ''"I started writing when all the protests and all the chaos were kicking off. It’s a weird thing to say but it suits the music I write. It keeps you a little bit on edge."''


{{Songbox
Bellamy jokingly said, in an Instagram comment reply on [https://www.instagram.com/p/COBjSGLhFzP/ Dom Howard's Instagram post], that the album would include "emotional gasps and many usages of the word ‘soul’.".
| Name = Muscle Museum
| Album =
{{drop
|[[Showbiz (album)|Showbiz]] <small>(2)</small>
|[[Muscle Museum (EP)|Muscle Museum EP]] <small>(1, 6)</small>
|[[Muscle Museum (single)|Muscle Museum]] <small>CD1 <small>(1, 3)</small>, CD2 <small>(1)</small>, DE CD <small>(1, 4)</small>, vinyl <small>(1)</small>, US CD1 <small>(1, 4)</small>, US CD2 <small>(1, 3)</small>, US vinyl <small>(1)</small></small>
|[[Hullabaloo Soundtrack (live)|Hullabaloo Soundtrack]] <small>(20)</small>
|[[Hullabaloo (live)|Hullabaloo]] <small>(13)</small>
|[[Absolution Tour (live)|Absolution Tour]] <small>(4)</small>
}}
| Length =
{{drop
|4:22
|5:29 <small>(full length version)</small>
|4:20 <small>([[Muscle Museum (EP)|Muscle Museum EP]] version)</small>
|1:21 <small>(Muscle Museum #2)</small>
}}
| AltTitles = -
| First = ''Unknown''<!--before Soundwaves 1997-->
| Latest = [[Paris Cigale 2018 (gig)|24{{supo|th}} February 2018]]
| Recorded = 1999
| Writer = [[Matthew Bellamy]]
| Producer = [[Paul Reeve]]
| Chart position = 25 <small>(UK)</small>
}}


<flashmp3>http://www.musewiki.org/images/MuscleMuseum.mp3|rightbg=0xDDEEFF|leftbg=0xDDEEFF|bg=0xFFFFFF</flashmp3>
According to Muse, "''Will of the People was created in Los Angeles and London and is influenced by increasing uncertainty and instability in the world. A pandemic, new wars in Europe, massive protests & riots, an attempted insurrection, Western democracy wavering, rising authoritarianism, wildfires and natural disasters and the destabilisation of the global order all informed Will of the People. It has been a worrying and scary time for all of us as the Western empire and the natural world, which we have cradled us for so long are genuinely threatened. This album is a personal navigation through those fears and preparation for what comes next.''"<ref>https://www.instagram.com/p/CbLgvvBqtzI/</ref>
{{AlbumNav
| Previous = [[Sunburn (song) | Sunburn]]
| Current = Muscle Museum
| Next = [[Fillip (song) | Fillip]]
}}
<br>
{{AlbumNav2
| Previous =
| Current = [[Showbiz (album) | Showbiz ''(1999)'']]
| Next = [[Origin of Symmetry (album) | Origin of Symmetry ''(2001)'']]
}}


==Information==
== Recording ==
This song came from a practice session at Matthew Bellamy's house early in Muse's existence as a band,<ref name="riu20071203">{{cite/ripitup20071203}}</ref> with the guitar part coming before the bass line and percussion, respectively.<ref name="riu20071203"/> Its first recorded release was on the Muscle Museum EP, where it came in two versions. One is close to the later incarnation on Showbiz, and one is a short acoustic with rain effects. The full length version on the single is the two combined, with the latter used as an introduction to the former.
The EP version also differs from the Showbiz version as having a different bassdrum figure in the verses and the pre-chorus parts.


Matthew said that the song it's "About how people don't really face up to their inner emotions a lot of the time and they just get on with their mundane life" and that also the song was "about the conflict between the body and the soul or mind. It's how sometimes one element of your being will not allow something to happen. For example, say your body wants to have sex with a girl but your mind reminds you that you have a girlfriend. It's that inner conflict." - the Freudian idea of inner conflict between want and conscience. He also stated in the same interview that the meaning somehow involved people in the future no longer having bodies. This idea came from a book that he had read about cyber-culture.<ref name="MuseChannelVmarch2000">
In an interview with NME, Bellamy said that he'd like the idea of the band "totally resetting" and going back to their hometown of Teignmouth, Devon to rehearse and record the next album. It appears however, that this was not the case, as the first studio pictures that started to emerge were from Bellamy's studio, located somewhere in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, and later sessions took place at [[Abbey Road Studios]]. The first proof of Muse being in the studio was an Instagram post of [https://www.instagram.com/p/CMT4hOxjpeI/ Matt playing a piano], posted in March of 2021, however work likely began earlier.
{{cite |
title=Channel V (March 2000) | desc=Interview| date=2000-10-03 | auth= | url=http://web.archive.org/web/20050307100347/http://www.rocketbabydolls.com/channelvmarch2000.html | dom= | fetch=2015-26-08 | type=ext
}}</ref>


The title comes from a dictionary that Muse used, which had 'muscle' immediately before 'muse' and 'museum' immediately after.<ref name="MuseMelodyMakerdec1999">
Producer [[Aleks Von Korff]], who previously worked with Muse as an engineer on [[Simulation Theory (album)|Simulation Theory]], and produced Bellamy's solo material - songs like [[Tomorrow's World (Matthew Bellamy song)|Tomorrow's World]], also posted a picture from this L.A. studio, with the wooden Kawai piano. According to him, the studio, named by Von Korff as "The Black Lodge", had been fully built in early 2020.<ref>https://www.instagram.com/p/CX6KyANuNT8/</ref> The studio has previously been seen during the recording sessions for the debut album of Matt's cover band/supergroup [[The Jaded Hearts Club]], aswell as during the recording of [[Simulation Theory (album)|Simulation Theory]].
{{cite |
title=The Potholey Bible - Melody Maker (december 1999) | desc=Interview| date=1999-00-12 | auth= | url=http://web.archive.org/web/20050307103207/http://www.rocketbabydolls.com/mel1299.html | dom= | fetch=2015-26-08 | type=ext
}}</ref><ref name="Radio X - Muse Interview">
{{cite |
title=Chris Moyles meets Muse| desc=Interview| date=2018 | auth=Chris Moyles for Radio X | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Shlpn_gJDlE | dom=Youtube | fetch=2018-07-12 | type=ext
}}</ref>


You can hear Matt talking about his hometown  in “Muscle Museum”, where [[Teignmouth]] still wanted to convince Muse they were doing wrong (to prove I’ve made a big mistake).<ref>
Between April and June 2021, the band took a break from recording, to work on a remix of [[Origin_of_Symmetry_(album)#Origin_of_Symmetry:_XX_Anniversary_RemiXX|Origin of Symmetry]]. In early June, Chris came to L.A. to join Dom and Matt continuing work on the album.<ref>https://www.instagram.com/p/CP6Xo7IjPs1/</ref>
{{cite |
title=The Legendary Matthew Bellamy | desc=Biography | fetch=2008-02-12 | pub=Fansite | url=http://www.freewebs.com/matthew_bellamy/biography.htm | dom=freewebs.com | type=ext
}}</ref>


Matt actually sings the "guitar" solo. "I wanted to do this big epic guitar solo at the end of the chorus and as soon as I started doing the solo, I missed a chord. So I suddenly found myself singing the guitar solo instead. I ended up singing it into a Marshall amp and it sounded exactly like guitar."<ref>Guitarist Magazine - I just wanted to excite people. [september 2001]</ref>
In November of 2021, [[Adrian Bushby]] posted a picture of him and Howard at [[Abbey Road Studios]], tracking drums, hinting at the album being partially tracked in there.<ref>https://www.instagram.com/p/CWBaoDFtHHk/?utm_medium=copy_link</ref> Prior to that, on July 24th, 2021, Muse also posted a picture of Bellamy holding one of his Manson guitars, posing infront of Abbey Road Studios with the caption saying "Good to be back".<ref>https://www.instagram.com/p/CRtsMriBtpm/</ref> Bellamy also posted a picture of his son, Bing, infront of Abbey Road Studios around that time.<ref>https://www.instagram.com/p/CTFAGKPjCx5/</ref> This makes the upcoming album the second LP to be (albeit partially) recorded at Abbey Road after 20 years, when [[Origin of Symmetry (album)|Origin of Symmetry]] was recorded at the studios.


==Other releases==
On December 1st, 2021, Chris Gehringer, mastering engineer at Sterling Sound Studios posted a picture of Bellamy and Howard sitting on a couch, with the entire album likely at the mastering stage during that time. <ref>https://www.instagram.com/p/CW9SHCXPtJy/</ref>


As the song featured on four separate release, a wide variety of edits and versions were created, some exclusively on promotional media:
The album has been, compared to previous releases, recorded in almost complete secrecy, with very few images from the recording sessions themselves, and no real info as to what we might expect from it, up until Matt's snippet of [[Won't Stand Down (single)|Won't Stand Down]] was streamed live on Instagram.
*'''Muscle Museum''' (4:20) — (From ''[[Muscle Museum (EP)|Muscle Museum EP]]'')
*'''(Muscle Museum)#2''' (1:21) — (From ''[[Muscle Museum (EP)|Muscle Museum EP]]'')
*'''Album Version''' (4:22) — (From ''[[Showbiz (album)|Showbiz]]'' and "[[Muscle Museum (single)|Muscle Museum]]" CD1)
*'''Full Length Version''' (5:29) — (From "[[Muscle Museum (single)|Muscle Museum]]" CD2)
*'''Radio Edit''' (3:17) ' (From [[Muscle Museum (single)#DE CD, DE promo|Muscle Museum]] DE CD and DE promo")
*'''Radio Edit''' (3:51) — (From "[[Muscle Museum (single)#FR promo 1, US promo|Muscle Museum]]" French and US two-track promos)
*'''Radio Edit''' (3:57) — (From "[[Muscle Museum (single)#UK promo, promo CD-R|Muscle Museum]]" promo, promo CD-R, ''[[Showbiz (album)#Promotion Sampler|Promotion Sampler]]'')
*'''Radio Edit''' (4:00) — (From "[[Muscle Museum (single)#Single Formats promo CD-R|Muscle Museum Single Formats]]"  promo CD-R)
*'''Radio Edit Fade''' (3:21) — (From "[[Muscle Museum (single)#Single Formats promo CD-R|Muscle Museum Single Formats]]"  promo CD-R)
*'''Radio Single''' (4:26) — (From "[[Muscle Museum (single)#Single Formats promo CD-R|Muscle Museum Single Formats]]"  promo CD-R)
*'''Revised Radio Edit''' (3:12) — (From "[[Muscle Museum (single)#Revised Radio Edit promo CD-R|Muscle Museum Revised Radio Edit]]"  promo CD-R)
*'''Radio Acoustic''' (4:31) a live acoustic version [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0JWXiwXzrg Watch]]


==Live==
== Release ==
Muscle Museum was played at most concerts from its release until the 2006 tour, during which it wasn't played until the concert at [[Cleveland Agora Theatre 2006 (gig)|Agora Theatre on September 10th]]. The song is played twice in 2007, the last one being [[Moscow Luzhniki Palace of Sports 2007 (gig)|Moscow on October 15th]].


As of January 2010, Howard revealed on TripleJ radio, Australia, he'd like to play the song live again, however, due to Bellamy losing the required (rare) effects pedal for part of the song, it's been left out of rotation so far. In September 2012, being asked whether they will play any ''Showbiz'' songs on ''[[The 2nd Law (album)|The 2nd Law]]'' tour, a member of Muse tweeted that "I'm routing for Muscle Museum to come back".<ref>https://twitter.com/muse/status/251030197170737152</ref>
On December 25th, 2021, Bellamy made up for the lack of a muse.mu Christmas present with a short livestream from his Tesla, on Muse's Instagram profile, showcasing part of [[Won't Stand Down (single)|Won't Stand Down]]. The 60 second stream was then screen-recorded by a few people, with copyright bots deleting the posts, hinting at the song being near its release. Matt's minute-long stream can be listened to [https://www.reddit.com/r/Muse/comments/romrcw/full_60_second_preview_of_new_song_wont_stand/ here]. The then-approaching release of the song was teased once again on Muse's New Years Eve Instagram post, when they wrote a caption saying "Looking forward to WSD. We'll see you on the other side!", before quickly replacing "WSD" with "2022". [[Won't Stand Down (single)|Won't Stand Down]] was subsequently announced a week later, on January 7th, 2022, on Muse's social media<ref>https://www.instagram.com/p/CYbuFCOKPfv/</ref>, with [https://wontstanddown.muse.mu/ wontstanddown.muse.mu] spotted being online a day earlier. Together with it also came the single artwork and a new promo image of the band. The song was released on January 13th, 2022, on digital platforms.


The song was printed on the setlist for the Lollapalooza Brazil gig in 2014 but was not played. Yes Please was performed instead.
Almost two months later, on March 2nd, 2022, Bellamy posted an Instagram story in which he went over the guitar tuning for Won't Stand Down, while mentioning that a second heavy song will appear on the album.<ref>https://www.reddit.com/r/Muse/comments/t5fv8w/from_matts_instagram_story/</ref>


The song made its comeback during the 2015's [[Psycho UK Tour]] in [[Exeter Great Hall 2015 (gig)|Exeter]] on March 20th.
On March 9th, 2022, Muse posted a short, half-minute teaser video on their YouTube, simply titled "MUSE", which depicts statues of the band's heads being torn down by a group of rioters in the middle of a desert, while wearing masks from the Won't Stand Down music video, with a choir of Matts singing the line "The Will of the People", name of the album and song of the same name, with album artwork displayed at the very end of the video.<ref>https://youtu.be/nzHnwHzp9o4</ref>


[[Muscle Museum (live) | More here]]
Two days later, on March 11th, 2022, it was discovered by Muse fans that the index code from [https://wontstanddown.muse.mu/api/v1/catalogue/new/ wontstanddown.muse.mu], contains basic album info, including the tracklist and anagrams for each song which will appear on the album. The same day, Muse announced a new song/single, [[Compliance (single)|Compliance]], released on March 17th, 2022, available for pre-saving on [http://mu-se.co/compliance-prerelease mu-se.co/compliance-prerelease].<ref>https://twitter.com/muse/status/1502298309368631296</ref> The song, and its music video, leaked on March 15th through Vimeo, before being deleted from the platform on the same day. The day later, anagrams from the wontstanddown index code were also resolved, leaking song titles and the tracklist. The music video was announced together with the album name on March 16th<ref>https://www.instagram.com/p/CbLgvvBqtzI/</ref>, while the tracklist has yet to be announced. With it, the album's website, [http://willofthepeople.muse.mu/ willofthepeople.muse.mu], has also been spotted coming online.


==Lyrics==
== "WOTP" Monogram & Artwork ==
{{lyrics
|She had something to confess to
But you don’t have the time so
Look the other way
You will wait until it’s over
To reveal what you’d never shown her
Too little much too late
Too long trying to resist it
You’ve just gone and missed it
It’s escaped your world


Can you see that I am needing
The monogram (shown in the picture), consisting of letters "W", "O", "T" and "P", first appeared on the single artwork for [[Won't Stand Down (single)|Won't Stand Down]]. It was already speculated at that time, that the monogram might be linked to the album name. The same monogram made appearances throughout the album's release campaign, included and displayed on characters' suits and various other places (like the car bonnet and the wheelchair) throughout Won't Stand Down's music video, aswell as the [[Compliance (single)|Compliance]] music video and promotional photos.
Begging for so much more
Than you could ever give
And I don’t want you to adore me
Don’t want you to ignore me
When it pleases you
And I’ll do it on my own


I have played in every toilet
The artwork, set somewhere in a post-apocalyptic deserty city (very similar to the post-apocalyptic London, shown on the [[Sing for Absolution (single)|Sing for Absolution]] single artwork), shows demolished large stone statues of the band's heads, with a small group of rioters standing next to them. Each head has graffiti on them, displaying the monograms scattered on each of the heads, aswel as various song names. These include: "''Liberation''" & "''Will of the People''" on Dom's head, "''Kill or Be Killed''" on Matt's head and "''Ghosts''", "''Won't Stand Down''" & "''Euophoria''" on Chris's head. Other words written as graffiti include "''Die''" and "''Fuck off''" on Matt's head, both presumably lines from the songs. Dom's head also includes "''IX''" written on, in Roman numerals, standing for the album being their ninth one.
But you still want to spoil it
To prove I’ve made a big mistake
Too long trying to resist it
You’ve just gone and missed it
It’s escaped your world


Can you see that I am needing
== Tracklist ==
Begging for so much more
''Based on data from JSON output off of [https://wontstanddown.muse.mu/api/v1/catalogue/new/ wontstanddown.muse.mu]''
Than you could ever give
And I don’t want you to adore me
Don’t want you to ignore me
When it pleases you yeah...


So I’ll do it on my own and
{{tracklist
I’ll do it all by myself
|01 = Will of the People
And you will never make it
|02 = Compliance
|03 = Liberation
|04 = Won't Stand Down | 04length = 3:29
|05 = Ghosts (How Can I Move On)
|06 = You Make Me Feel Like It's Halloween
|07 = Kill or Be Killed
|08 = Verona
|09 = Euphoria
|10 = We Are Fucking Fucked
}}
}}


====Live variation====
== Personnel ==
The first instance of
''Incomplete''
{{lyrics
 
|And I’ll do it on my own
'''Muse'''
}}
*[[Matt Bellamy]] - Vocals, backing vocals, guitar, keyboards, co-production
has occasionally been changed to
*[[Chris Wolstenholme]] - Bass, backing vocals, co-production
{{lyrics
*[[Dominic Howard]] - Drums, co-production
|So I'll do it on my own
 
}}
'''Production'''
The Plymouth version had the lyrics
*[[Aleks Von Korff]] - Additional production, Engineering, ATMOS Mixing
{{lyrics
*[[Adrian Bushby]] - Engineering
|I want you to ignore me
*Joe Devenney - Engineering assistant
}}
*Dan Lancaster - Mixing
in the instance of
*Rhys May - Mixing assistant
{{lyrics
*Chris Whitemyer - Technical assistant
|Don't want you to ignore me
*Andy Maxwell - Abbey Road assistance
}}
*Tommy Bosustow - Abbey Road assistance
and had
*Chris Gehringer - Mastering
{{lyrics
 
|You will never be right
'''Art'''
}} at the end.
*[[Jesse Lee Stout]] - Creative direction
 
== Ninth album recording gallery ==
<gallery>
File:2021_05_02_AVKVanHalen.jpg | "Might as well! Good way to spend a Friday, chasing one of the all time great synth sounds 🦾" (''video'') (5th February 2021; [https://www.instagram.com/p/CK7TfsWhZl-/ Aleks Von Korff's Instagram])
File:2021_16_02_AVKRack.jpg | "One of these kinda days ☺️❤️🍝" (16th February 2021; [https://www.instagram.com/p/CLVKL00B2hg/ Aleks Von Korff's Instagram])
File:2021_27_02_AVKMellotron.jpg | "Brought a few toys from home into work 🤗🎹" (27th February 2021; [https://www.instagram.com/p/CLx1Mf6hoSb/ Aleks Von Korff's Instagram])
File:2021-12-03_KKawaiAVK.jpg | "ty @kawaipianos for this beauty 🤍 sounding innnnnncredible 👌🏻" (12th March 2021; [https://www.instagram.com/p/CMVDlJJhgc0/ Aleks Von Korff's Instagram])
File:2021-12-03_MattExplorers.jpg.png | "Who can name that tune?" (''video'') (12th March 2021; [https://www.instagram.com/p/CMT4hOxjpeI/ Matt's Instagram])
File:2021-06-04_AVKAmps1.jpg | "Havin a blast with the @uaudio OX Amp top box. Making some naaaasty 🤘🏻 things and the OX is coming through in a huge way!..." (6th April 2021; [https://www.instagram.com/p/CNVrZ4yBNmJ/ Aleks Von Korff's Instagram])
File:2021-06-04_AVKAmps2.jpg | "Havin a blast with the @uaudio OX Amp top box. Making some naaaasty 🤘🏻 things and the OX is coming through in a huge way!..." (6th April 2021; [https://www.instagram.com/p/CNVrZ4yBNmJ/ Aleks Von Korff's Instagram])
File:2021-06-04_AVKAmps3.jpg | "Havin a blast with the @uaudio OX Amp top box. Making some naaaasty 🤘🏻 things and the OX is coming through in a huge way!..." (6th April 2021; [https://www.instagram.com/p/CNVrZ4yBNmJ/ Aleks Von Korff's Instagram])
File:2021-12-04_RoxaneBettyDom.jpg | "Being Dom Malkovitch 🎨 @roxannebettycreative" (12th April 2021; [https://www.instagram.com/p/CNlBWLHjCue/ Matt's Instagram])
File:2021-23-04_DomFloyd.jpg | "The producer still needs naps. He wanted to let you know the new album is sounding fat and to hope you are all keeping well and healthy 🙏🤟🏼🥁" (23rd April 2021; [https://www.instagram.com/p/COBjSGLhFzP/ Dom's Instagram])
File:2021-23-04_AVKBar.jpg | "Old fashioned time at the studio bar after a nice long week of tracking 🥃😌" (23rd April 2021; [https://www.instagram.com/p/COCFq66BHTW/ Aleks Von Korff's Instagram])
File:2021-13-06_StudioDogAVK.jpg | "Studio dog best dog 😍" (13th June 2021; [https://www.instagram.com/p/CQC7TPghyBx/ Aleks Von Korff's Instagram])
File:2021-07-24_BellamyAbbeyRoad.jpg | "Good to be back" (24th July 2021; [https://www.instagram.com/p/CRtsMriBtpm/ Muse's Instagram])
File:2021_08_11_BushbyInstagram.jpg | "Drum tracking with @muse at @abbeyroadstudios a couple months back. In my happy place with @domhoward77 and the gang 💕🎵" (8th November 2021; [https://www.instagram.com/p/CWBaoDFtHHk/ Adrian Bushby's Instagram])
File:2021_24_11_DomDogAVK.jpg | "girl wouldn’t stop chewing on cables, so put her in my lap while working. not the most productive day but probs the cutest.🤍" (24th November 2021; [https://www.instagram.com/p/CWo6DE3vq42/ Aleks Von Korff's Instagram])
File:2021_01_12_ChrisGehringerMuse.jpg | "@muse" (1st December 2021; [https://www.instagram.com/p/CW9SHCXPtJy/ Chris Gehringer's Instagram])
File:2021_12_25_AVKStudio1.png | "Spent the last year and a half in this space after putting it all together in the summer of 2020. ⁣As this Christmas is pretty much the first full break I’ve had since then - been nice to scroll back and reflect on things! Feelin grateful 🙌🏻 Happy Holidays y’all 🙂" (''video'') (25th December 2021; [https://www.instagram.com/p/CX6KyANuNT8/ Aleks Von Korff's Instagram])
File:2021 12 25 AVKStudio2.jpg | "Spent the last year and a half in this space after putting it all together in the summer of 2020. ⁣As this Christmas is pretty much the first full break I’ve had since then - been nice to scroll back and reflect on things! Feelin grateful 🙌🏻 Happy Holidays y’all 🙂" (25th December 2021; [https://www.instagram.com/p/CX6KyANuNT8/ Aleks Von Korff's Instagram])
File:2021 12 25 AVKStudio3.jpg | "Spent the last year and a half in this space after putting it all together in the summer of 2020. ⁣As this Christmas is pretty much the first full break I’ve had since then - been nice to scroll back and reflect on things! Feelin grateful 🙌🏻 Happy Holidays y’all 🙂" (25th December 2021; [https://www.instagram.com/p/CX6KyANuNT8/ Aleks Von Korff's Instagram])
File:2021 12 25 AVKStudio4.jpg | "Spent the last year and a half in this space after putting it all together in the summer of 2020. ⁣As this Christmas is pretty much the first full break I’ve had since then - been nice to scroll back and reflect on things! Feelin grateful 🙌🏻 Happy Holidays y’all 🙂" (25th December 2021; [https://www.instagram.com/p/CX6KyANuNT8/ Aleks Von Korff's Instagram])
File:2021 12 25 AVKStudio5.jpg | "Spent the last year and a half in this space after putting it all together in the summer of 2020. ⁣As this Christmas is pretty much the first full break I’ve had since then - been nice to scroll back and reflect on things! Feelin grateful 🙌🏻 Happy Holidays y’all 🙂" (25th December 2021; [https://www.instagram.com/p/CX6KyANuNT8/ Aleks Von Korff's Instagram])
File:2022_01_10_AVKWSDBassScreen.png | "THURSDAY! 1.13 #wontstanddown @muse 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻" (''video'') (10th January 2022; [https://www.instagram.com/p/CYiXIHfrqOM/ Aleks Von Korff's Instagram])
File:2022_01_10_AVKWSDWahs.jpg | "THURSDAY! 1.13 #wontstanddown @muse 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻" (10th January 2022; [https://www.instagram.com/p/CYiXIHfrqOM/ Aleks Von Korff's Instagram])
File:2022_02_06_AVKMattMarshall.jpg | "Don’t let your memes be dreams. Also, cabinets def sound better with a few @mansonguitarworks headstock shaped holes in em courtesy of Matt." (6th February 2022; [https://www.instagram.com/p/CZnTUjGPock/ Aleks Von Korff's Instagram])
File:2022_02_07_BellamyGuitarViol.png | "I used this GuitarViol (Kind of half fretted mini cello with a guitar tuning) to record the pizzicato strings for the verse of #wontstanddown Recorded around 12-16 takes to sound orchestral. @muse" (''video'') (7th February 2022; [https://www.instagram.com/p/CZr0AqTJNt2/ Matt's Instagram])
File:2022_02_07_AVKGuitarViol.jpg | "Coupla DPAs, a 122v, some a-ha…and boy you got a stew goin’ 🎻👨🏻‍🍳 Pizz strings on the guitarviol for Won’t Stand Down 🤘🏻" (7th February 2022; [https://www.instagram.com/p/CZsNANIPK6Q/ Aleks Von Korff's Instagram])
</gallery>


==References==
==References==
<references/>
<references/>
==See also==
*[[Muscle Museum (video)|Muscle Museum video]]
{{Backto | Showbiz (album) | Showbiz}}

Revision as of 13:26, 17 March 2022

The album's monogram
First WOTP promo pic for Won't Stand Down[1]
Muse album
Name Will of the People[2]
Tracks 10
Total length TBA
Recorded 2021
Writer/composer Matthew Bellamy, Dominic Howard, Christopher Wolstenholme
Producer Muse, Aleks Von Korff
Art work TBA
Publisher Helium 3, Warner
Format(s) TBA
Catalogue № TBA
Release date 2022 / TBA
Chart position N/A
album chronology
Simulation Theory
Will of the People[2]
Singles
WontStandDown.jpg


Information

Matt first hinted at working on new Muse material in an interview with ALT 98.7 FM, backstage at the ALTerEGO Festival in January of 2020, where he said, that the goal for 2020 was to work on new Muse material, allthough the plans were probably halted due to the coronavirus pandemic, as the three were unable to get together due to the lockdowns. Bellamy instead focused on releasing his solo material. Matt also hinted on working on Muse material in a May interview with Zane Lowe, on Beats 1 Radio, saying that he has a few pieces written that are suited for Muse.[3] In an interview with Rolling Stone, also in May, he said that that the idea would be to record the album in 2021 and potentially go on a tour in 2022.[4]

Bellamy confirmed he started writing the new Muse album in an interview with The Jaded Hearts Club Band for The Sun.[5] He also hinted at the band working on the next album in a brief Instagram comment in March 2021.[6]

In the interview, Bellamy said the following: "I started writing when all the protests and all the chaos were kicking off. It’s a weird thing to say but it suits the music I write. It keeps you a little bit on edge."

Bellamy jokingly said, in an Instagram comment reply on Dom Howard's Instagram post, that the album would include "emotional gasps and many usages of the word ‘soul’.".

According to Muse, "Will of the People was created in Los Angeles and London and is influenced by increasing uncertainty and instability in the world. A pandemic, new wars in Europe, massive protests & riots, an attempted insurrection, Western democracy wavering, rising authoritarianism, wildfires and natural disasters and the destabilisation of the global order all informed Will of the People. It has been a worrying and scary time for all of us as the Western empire and the natural world, which we have cradled us for so long are genuinely threatened. This album is a personal navigation through those fears and preparation for what comes next."[7]

Recording

In an interview with NME, Bellamy said that he'd like the idea of the band "totally resetting" and going back to their hometown of Teignmouth, Devon to rehearse and record the next album. It appears however, that this was not the case, as the first studio pictures that started to emerge were from Bellamy's studio, located somewhere in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, and later sessions took place at Abbey Road Studios. The first proof of Muse being in the studio was an Instagram post of Matt playing a piano, posted in March of 2021, however work likely began earlier.

Producer Aleks Von Korff, who previously worked with Muse as an engineer on Simulation Theory, and produced Bellamy's solo material - songs like Tomorrow's World, also posted a picture from this L.A. studio, with the wooden Kawai piano. According to him, the studio, named by Von Korff as "The Black Lodge", had been fully built in early 2020.[8] The studio has previously been seen during the recording sessions for the debut album of Matt's cover band/supergroup The Jaded Hearts Club, aswell as during the recording of Simulation Theory.

Between April and June 2021, the band took a break from recording, to work on a remix of Origin of Symmetry. In early June, Chris came to L.A. to join Dom and Matt continuing work on the album.[9]

In November of 2021, Adrian Bushby posted a picture of him and Howard at Abbey Road Studios, tracking drums, hinting at the album being partially tracked in there.[10] Prior to that, on July 24th, 2021, Muse also posted a picture of Bellamy holding one of his Manson guitars, posing infront of Abbey Road Studios with the caption saying "Good to be back".[11] Bellamy also posted a picture of his son, Bing, infront of Abbey Road Studios around that time.[12] This makes the upcoming album the second LP to be (albeit partially) recorded at Abbey Road after 20 years, when Origin of Symmetry was recorded at the studios.

On December 1st, 2021, Chris Gehringer, mastering engineer at Sterling Sound Studios posted a picture of Bellamy and Howard sitting on a couch, with the entire album likely at the mastering stage during that time. [13]

The album has been, compared to previous releases, recorded in almost complete secrecy, with very few images from the recording sessions themselves, and no real info as to what we might expect from it, up until Matt's snippet of Won't Stand Down was streamed live on Instagram.

Release

On December 25th, 2021, Bellamy made up for the lack of a muse.mu Christmas present with a short livestream from his Tesla, on Muse's Instagram profile, showcasing part of Won't Stand Down. The 60 second stream was then screen-recorded by a few people, with copyright bots deleting the posts, hinting at the song being near its release. Matt's minute-long stream can be listened to here. The then-approaching release of the song was teased once again on Muse's New Years Eve Instagram post, when they wrote a caption saying "Looking forward to WSD. We'll see you on the other side!", before quickly replacing "WSD" with "2022". Won't Stand Down was subsequently announced a week later, on January 7th, 2022, on Muse's social media[14], with wontstanddown.muse.mu spotted being online a day earlier. Together with it also came the single artwork and a new promo image of the band. The song was released on January 13th, 2022, on digital platforms.

Almost two months later, on March 2nd, 2022, Bellamy posted an Instagram story in which he went over the guitar tuning for Won't Stand Down, while mentioning that a second heavy song will appear on the album.[15]

On March 9th, 2022, Muse posted a short, half-minute teaser video on their YouTube, simply titled "MUSE", which depicts statues of the band's heads being torn down by a group of rioters in the middle of a desert, while wearing masks from the Won't Stand Down music video, with a choir of Matts singing the line "The Will of the People", name of the album and song of the same name, with album artwork displayed at the very end of the video.[16]

Two days later, on March 11th, 2022, it was discovered by Muse fans that the index code from wontstanddown.muse.mu, contains basic album info, including the tracklist and anagrams for each song which will appear on the album. The same day, Muse announced a new song/single, Compliance, released on March 17th, 2022, available for pre-saving on mu-se.co/compliance-prerelease.[17] The song, and its music video, leaked on March 15th through Vimeo, before being deleted from the platform on the same day. The day later, anagrams from the wontstanddown index code were also resolved, leaking song titles and the tracklist. The music video was announced together with the album name on March 16th[18], while the tracklist has yet to be announced. With it, the album's website, willofthepeople.muse.mu, has also been spotted coming online.

"WOTP" Monogram & Artwork

The monogram (shown in the picture), consisting of letters "W", "O", "T" and "P", first appeared on the single artwork for Won't Stand Down. It was already speculated at that time, that the monogram might be linked to the album name. The same monogram made appearances throughout the album's release campaign, included and displayed on characters' suits and various other places (like the car bonnet and the wheelchair) throughout Won't Stand Down's music video, aswell as the Compliance music video and promotional photos.

The artwork, set somewhere in a post-apocalyptic deserty city (very similar to the post-apocalyptic London, shown on the Sing for Absolution single artwork), shows demolished large stone statues of the band's heads, with a small group of rioters standing next to them. Each head has graffiti on them, displaying the monograms scattered on each of the heads, aswel as various song names. These include: "Liberation" & "Will of the People" on Dom's head, "Kill or Be Killed" on Matt's head and "Ghosts", "Won't Stand Down" & "Euophoria" on Chris's head. Other words written as graffiti include "Die" and "Fuck off" on Matt's head, both presumably lines from the songs. Dom's head also includes "IX" written on, in Roman numerals, standing for the album being their ninth one.

Tracklist

Based on data from JSON output off of wontstanddown.muse.mu

Personnel

Incomplete

Muse

Production

  • Aleks Von Korff - Additional production, Engineering, ATMOS Mixing
  • Adrian Bushby - Engineering
  • Joe Devenney - Engineering assistant
  • Dan Lancaster - Mixing
  • Rhys May - Mixing assistant
  • Chris Whitemyer - Technical assistant
  • Andy Maxwell - Abbey Road assistance
  • Tommy Bosustow - Abbey Road assistance
  • Chris Gehringer - Mastering

Art

Ninth album recording gallery

References