Simulation Theory (album)

Simulation Theory
A neon-coloured portrait of the members of the band in 80s-style dystopian-themed costumes, with themed electronic imagery surrounding them.
Studio album by Muse
Released 9 November 2018
Recorded January 2017 – August 2018
Studio AIR Studios
(London, England)
Label
Producer
Muse chronology
Drones
(2015)		 Simulation Theory
(2018)
Singles from Simulation Theory
  1. "Dig Down"
    Released: 18 May 2017
  2. "Thought Contagion"
    Released: 15 February 2018
  3. "Something Human"
    Released: 19 July 2018
  4. "The Dark Side"
    Released: 30 August 2018
  5. "Pressure"
    Released: 27 September 2018

Simulation Theory is the eighth studio album by English rock band Muse, to be released on 9 November 2018 through Warner Bros. Records and Helium-3. Co-produced by the band with Rich Costey, Mike Elizondo, Shellback, and Timbaland, it is a synth-rock album with themes of simulation and centering on the idea of "fantasy becoming real". Contrasting the band's previous three albums which dealt with darker themes, the band sought lighter influences from science fiction and 1980s pop culture and produced the album one track at a time without a focus on a greater narrative or theme. Recording began at AIR Studios in London in early 2017 with Elizondo, creating three tracks before embarking on a midyear tour of North America. Production restarted in Los Angeles in late 2017 with Costey, who had co-produced the band's 2003 album Absolution and 2006 album Black Holes and Revelations. "Era-blending" juxtapositioning and the contemporary political climate of the United States informed the album's music and lyrics.

The album cover for Simulation Theory, designed by Stranger Things artist Kyle Lambert, and its music videos, directed by Miike Snow and Twin Shadow collaborator Lance Drake, shared the album's 1980s pop culture and science fiction influences, homaging Back to the Future, Critters, Ghostbusters, Max Headroom, Michael Jackson's Thriller, and Teen Wolf. The album was preceded by the release of singles "Dig Down", "Thought Contagion", "Something Human", "The Dark Side", and "Pressure", along with a 2018 festival tour of North America. It will be available alongside two deluxe editions featuring alternate versions of its tracks. A headline tour of North America and Europe in 2019 is also planned.

Background

Following Black Holes and Revelations in 2006, Muse released three concept albums – The Resistance, The 2nd Law, and Drones – with darker themes such as government oppression, energy depletion, and remote warfare respectively.[1] Each album was followed with tours with elaborate stage designs, visual effects, and pyrotechnic programmes.[2][3][4] Following the conclusion of the Drones World Tour, the band and tour director Glen Rowe expressed an eagerness to design a new more ambitious tour,[5][6] but with a different musical direction. Singer and guitarist Matt Bellamy entertained the possibility of experimenting with hip hop or making another attempt at creating a stripped-back acoustic sound.[7][8] Drummer Dominic Howard concurred with the idea of moving away from concept albums, though suggested that the band could release singles or extended plays instead of albums to target audiences who did not listen to albums.[9]

Composition

Simulation Theory is a synth-rock album[10] that explores the role of simulation in society,[11] and the simulation hypothesis.[12] Biographer Mark Beaumont wrote that it would likely be lead songwriter Matt Bellamy's "dissection of the idea that we're all just lumps of code in the shape of unusually lumpy sims."[12] The album takes on a lighter science fiction theme, with "fantasy becoming real" cited by Bellamy as a core idea of the album,[11] in contrast to the band's previous three albums which respectively took on darker themes.[1] "Something Human", the sixth track on the album, is a folk rock-inspired song[13] that was written to counteract the "dark vibe" of Drones and the Drones World Tour, described by Bellamy as a "more tender, down-to-earth, simplistic song" that describes the burnout and homesickness he felt towards the end of the tour.[14] Musically, the band strived to achieve "era-blending" to create something that did not necessarily sound as if it "belonged" to an era; the music of Lana Del Rey, where 50s-style music is juxtaposed with lyrics concerning modern ideals such as "Video Games", was cited as an example of "era-blending" by Bellamy.[15][16] The album's opening track, "Algorithm", features a musical juxtaposition between classical piano and 80s synthesizers and chiptunes.[17] The third track, "Pressure", is a power pop track with contrasting horns and guitars, reminiscent of nerd rock, performing the song's rock-inspired main riff.[18][19] Two additional riffs feature in the song, with the riffs interchanging often throughout the track.[20]

Political themes are also present throughout the album. "Dig Down", the album's tenth track and one of the first to be written, was penned by Bellamy as a reaction to the social and political climate following the Brexit referendum and the 2016 United States presidential election, hoping to "give inspiration, optimism and hope to people to fight for the causes they believe in."[21] "Thought Contagion", the album's seventh track, was written in late 2017 following the band's move to Los Angeles, California, and the restart of production on the album.[22] The song's verses stemmed off Bellamy's "anxieties and feelings" from observing American news stations at the time,[23][24] and its chorus recalls Bellamy's concerns about the power misinformed or ideological people can have over their audiences.[25][26] The track's title and hook was inspired by literature written by Richard Dawkins, where he compared the spread of thoughts, "regardless of their accuracy and truth", to a viral disease.[27]

Recording

AIR Studios in London, England, where the first recording sessions for Simulation Theory took place in early 2017.

Muse began writing and recording their eighth studio album following the conclusion of the Drones World Tour in late 2016. The band spent time at AIR Studios in London, England,[28][29] with producer Mike Elizondo[30] until they left to embark on a tour of North America with PVRIS and Thirty Seconds to Mars, which began on 20 May 2017.[31] Three tracks were written and recorded during these sessions; information that had been relayed by the band to a fan that visited them at AIR Studios in March 2017.[32] One of the tracks, "Dig Down", was released following the conclusion of these sessions on 18 May 2017.[33][34][35] At the end of the tour, the band moved to Los Angeles, California, to restart production on the album, this time with long-time collaborator Rich Costey, who had previously co-produced Absolution and Black Holes and Revelations.[36][37][38]

I think for the last two or three albums, we've always been thinking about the whole. [...] It was nice to remind ourselves to just think about a song. What makes a song great?

Matt Bellamy, Rolling Stone[39]

Muse took a different approach to recording Simulation Theory in contrast to their previous albums, working on each track one by one, rather than the entire album across the whole production cycle.[40][41] Bellamy stated that it allowed the band to focus on individual tracks instead of dividing attention across multiple tracks and their potential overall sound and themes,[42] adding that "it's nice for us to not be multitasking twelve songs at once and always thinking about the whole."[40] The band hoped that it would increase the individual quality of the songs, and they did not have a particular theme for the album in mind, even halfway through its production.[43] One of the first tracks to be produced with Costey was "Thought Contagion", based off a bassline and theremin melody conceived by Bellamy.[22] The band began recording the track in November, with the original theremin melody being swapped out for a ten-layer vocal chorus performed by Bellamy and Chris Wolstenholme.[44] The track's verses were originally intended to be supported by a heavier, arena-style drum sequence, before experimentation with programming led the band to a trap-inspired drum sound that emulated the Roland TR-808.[45][46] The folk rock-inspired track "Something Human" was also co-produced with Costey.[13] Shellback and Timbaland also co-produced tracks on the album.[47][48]

Artwork

The album cover for the "Super Deluxe" edition of Simulation Theory, illustrated by Disney collaborator Paul Shipper

The album cover for Simulation Theory was designed by British visual artist Kyle Lambert, who had worked on the television series Stranger Things.[37][49] It is retro-themed with a focus on 1980s aesthetics, prompting comparisons by critics to Lambert's earlier work and similar aesthetics used in both 1980s and contemporary media.[50][51] The cover for the "super deluxe" version of the album was designed by Paul Shipper, who had designed the Dolby Cinema posters for Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures films such as Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Avengers: Infinity War. It features an array of characters, including members of the band, in a stylistic arrangement similar to Shipper's previous work.[49][52]

Promotion

Music from Simulation Theory was teased as early as April 2017, when the band shared footage from their early studio sessions on social media witch captions alerting followers to new material "coming soon".[28][29] More cryptic teasers were published in the weeks following.[53][54][55] Following these teasers, "Dig Down", a product of the band's first recording sessions for the album, was released on 18 May 2017, along with its music video.[33][34][35] The song later became a staple on the band's 2017 North American Tour as the show's opening performance.[56][57] After the conclusion of the tour and band's return to the studio, "Thought Contagion" was being teased as the band's next release, along with up to three more tracks in 2018 prior to the release of their next album.[58][59] "Thought Contagion" was released on 15 February 2018 with its accompanying music video.[16][60][61] After asserting a 2018 release of the album in a message to fans published in April 2018, Muse continued to post in-studio footage on social media in the weeks following.[62] The band also appeared as headliners at a number of festival shows in the United States in 2018, including Bonnaroo, BottleRock, and Carolina Rebellion festivals.[62][63]

On 20 July 2018, a November release for the album was made official by the band, along with the release of the lead single "Something Human", alongside its accompanying music video.[13][64][65] The video included an easter egg where the album's title, Simulation Theory, is displayed on the label of a VHS cassette.[66] Simulation Theory was announced on 30 August 2018, with the album's artwork, track listing, and release date being detailed in a press release and promotional landing page on the band's website.[48][67] Pre-orders for the album's standard, deluxe, and "super deluxe" editions began on the same day.[48][67] The deluxe and super deluxe editions feature alternate versions of the album's tracks, referred to as "alternate reality versions",[49] including a version of "Pressure" performed by the UCLA Bruin Marching Band, a gospel rendition of "Dig Down", a live version of "Thought Contagion" and acoustic renditions of "Propaganda", "Something Human", and "The Void".[49][68] A fourth single promoting the album, "The Dark Side", was also released on 30 August,[67] followed by "Pressure" on 27 September.[19] Both were simultaneously released with accompanying music videos.[48]

Music videos

The album's music videos feature science fiction-themed, 80s-style visuals. The videos for "Thought Contagion" (top) and "Something Human" (bottom) are pictured.

Music videos for all eleven tracks on Simulation Theory will be produced, with every video forming a single narrative focused on "digital containment and escape."[47][69] Much like the album, the videos are science fiction-themed,[70] with a focus on nostalgic 1980s-inspired aesthetics and visual effects.[60][61][71] Each of the videos were directed by American filmmaker Lance Drake, noted for his work with Miike Snow and Twin Shadow,[35] who collaborated with the band to create a "world-building mentality" for the project.[72] The first video produced for the project was "Dig Down", which starred model and former athlete Lauren Wasser as a protagonist attempting to escape a high-security facility.[34][70] The action-heavy video served as a literal interpretation of the song's lyrics, based on Wasser's publicised experience with toxic shock syndrome.[35] Drake had intended to film a video with Wasser starring prior to his involvement with Muse, and "Dig Down"'s themes of unity and survival inspired him to create a story centered around her.[21][35] Bellamy appears in the video through cathode ray tube television sets dressed up as 80s cyberpunk character Max Headroom.[70] The album's second video, "Thought Contagion", references the 1983 music video Michael Jackson's Thriller, centering around a love story involving a vampire antagonist illustrated through choreography and neon lighting.[60][61][73] Muse held an open casting call for dancers and extras for the video, welcoming "super edgy" punk characters with "wild hair", tattoos, and piercings.[74]

The third video to be released, "Something Human", follows Bellamy as he attempts to return a VHS cassette to a video rental shop before turning into a werewolf, while being chased by police portrayed by band mates Dominic Howard and Chris Wolstenholme.[75] Drake aimed to create an "epic journey" out of a simple task, such as returning a tape, while continuing the narrative of the previous two videos.[76] Continuing the 1980s-inspired visual style, the video takes place in a simulation, and makes more direct references to 80s media, such as Back to the Future and Teen Wolf; films that Bellamy had enjoyed during his childhood and wanted to recall as part of the video's simulation setting.[76][77] The following video, "The Dark Side", continues where the ending of "Something Human" left off and features Bellamy driving through a simulated dystopian landscape populated by giant robots.[48][68] The video has invited comparisons to Cyberpunk and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City by critics.[69][78] The album's fifth music video, "Pressure", continues the 1980s pop culture references,[19][20] and stars the band as performers at a homecoming dance akin to a scene from Back to the Future,[18] and Terry Crews as a chaperone who uses a Ghostbusters-esque proton pack to subdue an outbreak of gremlin-like creatures.[19][79] Homages to Critters, the work of John Hughes, and Stranger Things have also been identified by critics.[19][20][79]

Tour

In September 2018, Muse revealed through a post on Twitter the name of twenty cities in North America and seventeen cities in Europe that the band intended to visit on their 2019 headline tour.[80] In the same post, the band promised early access to tickets for the tour for people who pre-ordered the album.[80][81] Technology will be a focus in the design of the tour, with an intent to showcase "something that no one’s ever seen before".[80] Early ideas for the tour included a system of magnets that would allow the band to levitate without wires.[5]

Track listing

Simulation Theory[82]
No.TitleLength
1."Algorithm" 
2."The Dark Side"3:47
3."Pressure"3:55
4."Propaganda" 
5."Break It to Me" 
6."Something Human"3:46
7."Thought Contagion"3:26
8."Get Up and Fight" 
9."Blockades" 
10."Dig Down"3:48
11."The Void" 

Personnel

Credits adapted from the singles "Dig Down",[84] "Pressure",[85] "Something Human",[86] "The Dark Side",[87] and "Thought Contagion".[88]

Muse

Additional Musicians

Production

  • Laurence Anslow – assistant engineer (track 10)
  • Brent Arrowood – assistant engineer (track 10)
  • Tom Bailey - assistant engineer (track 6)
  • Tyler Beans – assistant engineer (track 2, 3, 7), assistant producer (track 6)
  • Jeremy Berman - "assistant" [sic] (track 2, 3, 7)
  • Rob Bisel – assistant engineer (track 2, 3, 7), assistant producer (track 6)
  • Phillip Broussard – assistant engineer (track 10), assistant producer (track 6)
  • Adrian Bushby – assistant engineer (track 10)
  • Tommaso Colliva – assistant engineer (track 6)
  • Martin Cooke – assistant engineer (track 7), assistant producer (track 6)
  • Rich Costey – producer (track 2, 3, 6, 7), engineer (track 6), mastering (track 7)
  • Mike Elizondo – producer and programmer (track 10)
  • Nick Fournier – assistant producer (track 6)
  • Michael Freeman – mixing (track 2, 6, 10)
  • Chris Gehringer – mastering (track 7)
  • Noah Goldstein – assistant producer (track 6)
  • Sam Grubbs - "assistant" [sic] (track 2, 3), assistant producer (track 7)
  • Adam Hawkins - engineer (track 2, 3, 6, 7, 10), mixing (track 3, 7)
  • Ted Jensen - mastering (track 10)
  • Aleks Von Korff - assistant engineer (track 2, 3, 7), assistant producer (track 6)
  • Randy Merrill - mastering (track 6)
  • Dylan Neustadter - "assistant" [sic] (track 2, 3), assistant producer (track 7)
  • John Prestage – assistant engineer (track 10)
  • Spike Stent – mixing (track 2, 6, 10)
  • Chris Whitemyer - "assistant" [sic] (track 3, 7)
  • Colin Willard - "assistant" [sic] (track 3), assistant producer (track 7)

References

Sources

  1. Bellamy, Matthew; Greene, Andy (1 September 2018). "Matt Bellamy on Muse's Rousing, Political New Song 'Thought Contagion'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 15 February 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  2. Bellamy, Matthew; Olivier, Bobby (19 July 2018). "Muse's Matt Bellamy Talks New Single 'Something Human' & 'Simulation' Themes on Upcoming Album". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2 September 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  3. Bellamy, Matthew; Savage, Mark (20 February 2018). "Muse: 'The guitar is no longer a lead instrument'". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2 September 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  4. Beaumont, Mark (31 August 2018). "Muse's biographer: 'Simulation Theory' will find Muse going full 'San Junipero'". NME. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.

Citations

  1. 1 2 Beaumont 2018, "But after a long run of albums tackling some of mankind's most serious concerns – oppressive governments, energy depletion, remote control warfare – they've finally found a mind-bending sci-fi topic to have fun with."
  2. ↑ Appleford, Steve (24 January 2013). "Muse Open U.S. Tour With a Bang". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  3. ↑ Empire, Kitty (17 April 2016). "Muse review – entertainingly bombastic". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  4. ↑ Daly, Rhian (1 November 2016). "The Evolution Of Muse's Tech-Obsessed Live Shows". NME. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  5. 1 2 Hohnen, Mike (26 October 2016). "Muse Reach Peak Muse, Are Considering A Magnetic Stage So Band Can "Levitate"". Music Feeds. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  6. ↑ Yoo, Noah (25 October 2016). "Muse "Want to Do a Stage Made of Magnets So the Band Can Levitate" On Next Tour". Pitchfork. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  7. ↑ Wilson, Zanda (8 November 2016). "Matt Bellamy Is "Going To Start Rapping" On Muse's Next Album". Music Feeds. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  8. ↑ Britton, Luke Morgan (4 November 2016). "Muse suggest surprising new direction on next album". NME. Retrieved 1 September 2018. Asked by Absolute Radio if they could go acoustic, frontman Matt Bellamy said: "I feel like I say it every time with each album but I feel like it might be time to actually do something a bit more stripped down."
  9. ↑ Varga, George (6 January 2016). "Muse may have made its last album, says drummer". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018. The way people consume music has changed so drastically over the past 10 years, it's insane," Howard continued. "And I'm the same. I certainly don't listen to albums all the way through now, like I used to. So we just thought, if we're going to release an album this time, we wanted to make it an album that makes sense from start to finish. It makes much more sense to go from start to finish, than just hear one or two songs.
  10. ↑ Beaumont 2018, "On the Deluxe and Super Deluxe editions Muse will break out of their synthrock cages; there are acoustic versions of album tracks aplenty."
  11. 1 2 Bellamy & Olivier 2018, "...that’s really one of the themes of the album, the idea of fantasy becoming real, simulations becoming something that's part of our everyday life."
  12. 1 2 Beaumont 2018, "I confidently expect this to be Bellamy's dissection of the idea that we're all just lumps of code in the shape of unusually lumpy sims."
  13. 1 2 3 Schatz, Lake (19 July 2018). "Muse to release new album in November, unleash "Something Human" as first single: Stream". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on 31 August 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2018. "Something Human" finds the alt-rockers tracking a much more mellow route here, trading in crunchy prog-rock for — get this — something along the lines of folk pop. [...] The song was co-produced by the band with help from Rich Costey.
  14. ↑ Bellamy & Olivier 2018, "The Drones Tour was amazing and we’re very happy with how it went, but at the same time it was quite grueling. [...] It had a dark vibe, which is good, but when you’ve been doing that for a while that natural result was that as soon as I came off the road, “Something Human” came out, which is a more tender, down-to-earth, simplistic song about what it feels like to be burned out and wanting to get home to a more normal life after being on the road for a couple years."
  15. ↑ Bellamy & Savage 2018, "...what's interesting about music now is not just the style-blending but the era-blending. So you'll have an artist like Lana Del Rey doing a song that sounds and feels like it's set in the 1950s, but she's singing about video games. It's an interesting time for era-blending and creating something which is timeless, and not particularly attached to any time..."
  16. 1 2 O'Connor, Roisin (16 February 2018). "Muse release new track 'Thought Contagion'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2 September 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2018. and we're also interested in doing some genre-blending and era-blending.
  17. ↑ Childers, Chad (16 February 2018). "Muse's 'Thought Contagion' Is Inspired by Trump Supporters". Loudwire. Retrieved 2 September 2018. Bellamy also teased a track called "Algorithm" that has "blended a bit of romantic classical piano with like '80s synth, computer game music."
  18. 1 2 Trendell, Andrew (27 September 2018). "Muse go 'back to the future' in new video for their 'straight rock single' 'Pressure'". NME. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018. "It’s more like a straight Muse rock track," Bellamy told Radio X. "It’s like a different riff every 10 seconds, basically." [...] the scene shifts to a high school prom – seemingly recreating the prom scene in Back To The Future, with Muse assuming the role of the band and the frontman appearing to be dressed as Marty McFly.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 Worthington, Clint (28 September 2018). "Muse premiere new single "Pressure" and Terry Crews-starring video: Stream". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018. ...driving power chords, catchy hooks, pure wall-of-sound nerd rock. The addition of horns to the song's central riff [...] the song’s power-pop sensibilities. [...] is a big, silly, over-the-top '80s throwback, featuring everything from a John Hughes-y school dance to Terry Crews zapping gremlins with a Ghostbuster-like proton pack.
  20. 1 2 3 Marina, Pedrosa (27 September 2018). "Muse Goes Back to the '80s for Sci-Fi 'Pressure' Video: Watch". Billboard. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018. ...their new '80s high school homecoming-meets-Stranger Things music video for "Pressure," [...] The multiple-riff, guitar-heavy tune features some impressive melodic arrangements and a full-bodied vocal attack by frontman Matt Bellamy.
  21. 1 2 Slingerland, Calum (18 May 2017). "Muse Return with "Dig Down"". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  22. 1 2 Bellamy & Greene 2018, "It’s a pretty recent track, probably towards the end of last year is when I wrote it. I came up with the bass line and then I used a theremin, originally, to [create] this lead melody that went over the top."
  23. ↑ Bellamy & Greene 2018, "Probably watching American news stations. We’re living in an age where these sort of ideologies, people’s belief systems, whether they are true or false, are getting a lot of air time, especially ones on the false side [...] The verses are me streaming off anxieties and feelings..."
  24. ↑ Bellamy & Savage 2018, "Thought Contagion was inspired by watching rolling news in America, and seeing how it influenced voters."
  25. ↑ Bellamy & Greene 2018, "The key line in the song [...] summarizes what I’m trying to get at here, which is sometimes in life you will come across situations where someone who is a bit ideological or believes things that are not true in any way will sometimes have more power than you, over you or get more airtime. I think that’s really what the song is about."
  26. ↑ Bellamy & Savage 2018, "We're living in an age where truth is getting less airtime than falsities; and that's a scary thing," said Bellamy, who currently lives in the US. "When you live in that bubble, and see that bubble, the scariest thing about it all is you realise people's minds can be influenced by false belief systems or incorrect thinking."
  27. ↑ Bellamy & Savage 2018, "The title of the song came from a Richard Dawkins book that suggested that thoughts can become contagious and spread like a virus, "regardless of their accuracy and truth"."
  28. 1 2 O'Connor, Roisin (6 April 2017). "Muse are back in the studio recording new music". The Independent. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  29. 1 2 Murphy, Sam (6 April 2017). "Muse Are Back In The Studio And Have A New Song "Coming Soon"". Music Feeds. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  30. ↑ Schulz, Chris (3 March 2017). "Superproducer Mike Elizondo 'blown away' by Kiwi singer". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018. ...and landed in New Zealand fresh from a songwriting session with stadium rockers Muse...
  31. ↑ Cobo, Leila (20 May 2018). "Muse Dazzles at Stunning Summer Tour Kickoff in West Palm Beach". Billboard. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  32. ↑ Trendell, Andrew (14 March 2017). "Muse have recorded 'three new songs' in a London recording studio". NME. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  33. 1 2 Leight, Elias (18 May 2017). "See Muse's Violent, Kung-Fu-Filled 'Dig Down' Video". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  34. 1 2 3 Strauss, Matthew (18 May 2017). "Watch Muse's Video for New Song "Dig Down"". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  35. 1 2 3 4 5 Geslani, Michelle (18 May 2017). "Muse share action-packed video for new single "Dig Down"". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  36. ↑ Trendell, Andrew (12 October 2017). "Muse are back in the studio – with an old friend and collaborator". NME. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  37. 1 2 Connick, Tom (30 August 2018). "Muse's new album 'Simulation Theory' - everything we know so far". NME. Archived from the original on 30 August 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  38. ↑ Rockol staff (12 October 2017). "I Muse di nuovo al lavoro con il produttore Rich Costay". Rockol (in Italian). Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  39. ↑ Bellamy & Greene 2018, "I think for the last two or three albums..."
  40. 1 2 Bellamy & Greene 2018, "We’re doing the writing, recording and mixing process and even the video in this occasion before moving onto the next song. It’s nice for us to not be multitasking twelve songs at once and always thinking about the whole. "
  41. ↑ Bellamy & Savage 2018, "Unlike previous projects, the band are releasing it one song at a time, rather than conceiving an overarching concept."
  42. ↑ Bellamy & Savage 2018, "You're thinking, 'We've got to make this track as good as it can be,' whether its an EP or a single or a b-side. You're thinking more about one or two pieces of music, rather than always thinking about 12, 13 songs."
  43. ↑ Bellamy & Greene 2018, "It remains to be seen whether the whole will have a concept to it, but I kinda think that we’ve done two or three concept albums in a row now. I think it’ll be our greatest album in terms of the quality of individual songs."
  44. ↑ Bellamy & Greene 2018, "It wasn’t until we started recording the song in November that it occurred to me that the theremin melody would be a cool, anthemic sort of vocal part, so [bassist] Chris [Wolstenholme] and I did about ten passes on that to create this sort of crowd effect on the vocal."
  45. ↑ Bellamy & Greene 2018, "The verse of the song, originally, was probably a lot more heavy-sounding than it is now, in terms of [having a] much more arena sound, drum kit kind of thing. But we wanted to experiment with programming the verse and go for more of a slightly trap or 808 drum feel for the verses..."
  46. ↑ Bellamy & Savage 2018, "On their latest single, Thought Contagion, the band have even used the skittish drum patterns of Trap. "That's the first time we've used something like that - big 808 [drum machine] drops and stuff," said Bellamy.
  47. 1 2 Variety staff (30 August 2018). "Muse Uses 'Stranger Things' as Inspiration for Cover Art to New Album". Variety. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  48. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Blistein, Jon (30 August 2018). "Muse Preview New Album 'Simulation Theory' With Slick Song 'The Dark Side'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 30 August 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  49. 1 2 3 4 Young, Alex (30 August 2018). "Muse announce new album, Simulation Theory, unveil "The Dark Side": Stream". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on 30 August 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  50. ↑ Lucchesi, Nick (30 August 2018). "Who Do We Blame for Muse's 'Simulation Theory'?". Inverse. Archived from the original on 30 August 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2018. The artwork for Muse’s Simulation Theory feels very much like an elevated version of the ‘80s Text Generator meme that was popular two years ago, an aesthetic that was no-doubt inspired by Stranger Things.
  51. ↑ Beaumont 2018, The album comes in an uber-retro sleeve [...] that couldn’t be more Blade Runner if it came with a free attack ship on fire off the shoulder of Orion. [..] The whole thing screams San Junipero to the max."
  52. ↑ Ewing, Jerry (30 August 2018). "Muse to release new album Simulation Theory on November 9". Louder Sound. Archived from the original on 30 August 2018. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  53. ↑ O'Connor, Roisin (9 May 2017). "Muse tease new single and video on social media". The Independent. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  54. ↑ Anderton, Joe (8 May 2017). "Muse tease their long-awaited comeback with cryptic video". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  55. ↑ Kaufman, Gil (9 May 2017). "Muse Tease New Music in Cryptic Video". Billboard. Archived from the original on 1 September 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
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  69. 1 2 Beaumont 2018, "That each song will have its own video ('The Dark Sides clip of Bellamy driving a sports car through a neon cityscape could be taken from GTA Vice City 2078) suggests a narrative about digital containment and escape."
  70. 1 2 3 Roberts, Christopher (18 May 2017). "Muse Share Sci-Fi Video for New Song "Dig Down"". Under the Radar. Archived from the original on 2 September 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2018. Lance Drake directed the science fiction styled video, which stars model and activist Lauren Wasser as she tries to escape from some sort of facility. The band appear on TV screens, with frontman Matt Bellamy looking a bit like 1980s computer generated cult character Max Headroom.
  71. ↑ Bellamy & Olivier 2018, "The new video — one man’s quest to return a VHS tape before he turns into a werewolf — stays on the ‘80s nostalgia thread from the “Thought Contagion” video.
  72. ↑ Bellamy & Olivier 2018, "...we’ve been working with Lance Drake and we’re hoping to work with him for all the videos for the album and get into this idea of a sort of world-building mentality around this album..."
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  74. ↑ Thomas, Helen Meriel (22 January 2018). "Are Muse casting for their new music video?". NME. Archived from the original on 2 September 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2018. We're looking for a couple of super edgy guys to play punk/street guys," reads the 'grungy punks' ad. "Wild hair, tattoos and piercings welcome.
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  76. 1 2 Maine, Samantha (19 July 2018). "Muse have shared a futuristic, Teen Wolf inspired video for 'Something Human'". NME. Archived from the original on 2 September 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2018. Our aim with 'Something Human' was to continue the journey that began in 'Dig Down' and 'Thought Contagion," Drake said. "Pulling further into a simulated world we follow Matt, Dom, and, Chris on the chase of a lifetime – where something as simple as returning some video tapes becomes an epic journey.
  77. ↑ Bellamy & Olivier 2018, "For that very reason we live in age where because you can be anything or anywhere you want in a simulation, for me I want to go back to the early ‘80s and Back To The Future. [...] My earliest memories as a child are of watching films like E.T. or Back To The Future or Teen Wolf."
  78. ↑ Rincón, Alessandra (30 August 2018). "Muse Announce New Album 'Simulation Theory,' Share Pounding Track 'The Dark Side': Watch". Billboard. Retrieved 2 September 2018. ...and debuted a Cyberpunk-esque video for a new single called "The Dark Side" today.
  79. 1 2 Grow, Kory (27 September 2018). "See Muse Play High School Dance Gone Wrong In New 'Pressure' Video". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018. ...and a chaperone, Terry Crews. When two students ride their bikes into the science lab, things go horribly wrong with a sequence that owes a debt to sci-fi movies like Critters.
  80. 1 2 3 Trendell, Andrew (28 September 2018). "Muse announce the cities for their 2019 UK and world tour". NME. Archived from the original on 5 October 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2018. the band have told fans that anyone who pre-orders the album here will have early access to their 2019 headline tour. Revealing the cities they’ll be playing, [...] We’re going to come up with something that no one’s ever seen before. We’re always interested in the latest technology and what’s cutting edge...
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  85. ↑ Pressure. Warner Bros. Records. 27 September 2018. Archived from the original on 5 October 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
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