Muse – Will of the People

Will of the People, Muse’s ninth studio album, is informed by the increasing uncertainty and instability of the world as it is. They are not the first to draw on such themes and produce a politically charged album – but paired with the surging, existential rock typical to the Devon-bred band, there is a lot to unpack.

As the name suggests, Will of the People has the feel of a fast-moving, volatile revolution. The band doesn’t hesitate in revisiting the past, very specifically at times. Liberation opens with the lonely piano recognisable from The 2^nd Law but rapidly morphs into an evocation of Queen, and not only for its crashing cymbals and multi-tracked choral voices. If Soldier’s Poem of Black Holes and Revelations (2006) was the verse, Liberation is the chorus.

The electronic basis of the album is not unexpected; the iconic Starlight, amongst others, was received extremely well for its incorporation of these elements. Compliance is heavily synthesised, with a consistent tone throughout, topped with a melodramatic fade-out. Matt Bellamy’s vocals feel subdued as if they too are “compliant” to the persistent synths. It is tracks like this one, which follow comfortable pop tropes, that make their rage feel slightly fabricated and the threats they are expressing less terrifying. Muse have adopted playful, dancey tones within their realms of impending doom and crisis, but it’s harder to swallow in We are Fucking Fucked, a quite crude – albeit true – statement on the state of the world.

Thankfully, explosive tracks such as Kill or be Killed break the beat patterns with the virtuosity and tenacity of instrumentation the band are known for achieving. Influences extend to the likes of Imagine Dragons and their distorted, rumbling bass lines. Won’t Stand Down stomps and rages its way through scratched and static vocals, which build with angst-track progressions that are undeniably Muse.

Noticeably different for its nakedness is Ghosts (How Can I Move On): piano melody seems to be considered a fast track route to heartfelt music, but cannot always be relied on to stir emotion, and the lyrics don’t stand up. Bellamy’s breathy, pushed vocals do however conjure an existential solitariness as if drifting in space, an eerily distant atmosphere. The paced and spacey Verona is perhaps the most sophisticated track on this album, for the band’s instrumental depth is given space to be identified and absorbed. However, You Make Me Feel Like it’s Halloween is a title that doesn’t leave one too hopeful, and indeed, it feels like an entry to Eurovision.

As it always has been, the group’s music demands the space of an arena – they are, after all, reputed for their live performances. Will of the People is an assortment of Muse as we know it, confrontational and relentless, with all their rollicking urgency and shattering sound; but it doesn’t reverberate the scene for the same reasons their previous works did. They exhilarate, but less because they have calculated voluminous and effective atmospheres of fear, and more for the rampant, even violent, energy with which most of these tracks charge forwards.

Georgia Howlett

Will of the People is released on 26^th August 2022. For further information or to order the album visit Muse’s website here.

Watch the video for the single Will of the People here: