Matt: 17 July 2006

Black Holes is the best British album channel4 teletext has heard so far this year.

Before making their new album, Muse tested songs on their U.S. your."There was a note to Des, out guitar tech on one setlist. Our forum was full of fans wondering what DES stood for - Dead End Street was popular for some reason. We kept fit in the U.S. by cycling. So we left clues in our setlist, had a big treasure hunt to win a signed bike".

Matt lives in Milan, Dom in London and Chris in Devon, so how does living so far apart affect their songwriting? "Because of touring, we still see each other more than we do anyone else. We lived together making Black Holes in France, completly secluded. It's the first time we've had no deadlines and been able to work at our own pace.

Their new home in Chateau Miraval when making the new album was a mied blessing for Muse. "For creativity it was great, the song ideas came there. Time wise.. well we had weeks of just moving buttons around on the mixing desk. We bought a hand-built Buchler 200E synth and spent 3 days sat around trying to work out how to play it. That's when we had to leave".

Muse's new album took shape when they decamped from France to New York. "The songs got a lot faster, New York interjected more fun into the songs. Supermassive was a bit dirgy before new york. Whenever I've sung falsetto before, people go on about how earnest and operatic it sounds. It's quite easy for me to sing like that - I wanted to try it on a song you can dance to"

"We chose SMBH as the first single to get people's backs up a bit. It's the most extreme disco song on the album and Black Holes is our most upbeat record. It's a way of saying ' you're not getting Absolution 2'. You can't make music trying to second guess what fans will think, that's a con".

"I didn't start out wanting to write so directly about politcs. I'm surprised as anyone how forthright Take a Bow is. I'm just disgusted at how the media worldwide, is controlled by so few people. Dissemination of information is spoonfed to people, depending on what the CIA and MI6 want you to know".

Muse feel that 4 songs on their new album are linked at their disgust at politics. Do they include Exo-Politics a song about alien governments? "Ah-ha, hmmm. Well, Black Holes gives space to views from the fringes of society that I'm willing to air. But if you put it next to Assasin or Soldier's Poem, that I care deeply about...... I wouldn't take Exo-Politics TOO seriously if I were you!"