Muse announce ninth studio album, Will Of The People, alongside new single Compliance
The album is due out 22 August through Warner.
Credit: Warner Records
English rock band Muse have announced their ninth studio album Will Of The People alongside a brand new single and music video for the track Compliance.
The album itself is set to be released on 26 August via Warner Records, while the single and music video was released today (17 March).
The trio of Matt Bellamy, Dominic Howard and Chris Wolstenholme last released the album Simulation Theory in 2018, and have now returned with what they describe as an album influenced by the effects of the pandemic and the rise of authoritarianism around the world.
Bellamy explains in a press statement, “Will Of The People was created in Los Angeles and London and is influenced by the 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 have cradled us for so long are genuinely threatened. This album is a personal navigation through those fears and preparation for what comes next.”
Watch the music video for Compliance below:
Of the song, Bellamy said, “Compliance is about submission to authoritarian rules and reassuring untruths to be accepted to an in-group. Gangs, governments, demagogues, social media algorithms & religions seduce us during times of vulnerability, creating arbitrary rules and distorted ideas for us to comply with.
They sell us comforting myths, telling us only they can explain reality while simultaneously diminishing our freedom, autonomy and independent thought”
We are not just coerced, we are herded, frightened and corralled to produce a daily ‘2 minutes of hate’ against an out-group of their choosing and to turn a blind eye to our own internal voice of reason & compassion. They just need our Compliance.”
The music video for Compliance, which was directed by Jeremi Durand, takes inspiration from the 2021 film Looper, and sees three children traveling through time to kill their future selves in order to escape a dystopian world.
Pre-orders are now open for Will Of The People via Muse’s website. Buyers will unlock Compliance, as well as the previously released single Wont Stand Down as instant downloads upon making a pre-order.
Will Of The People will be available in digital, black vinyl and CD, and several collectible formats including a marbled double-vinyl.