Muse's 'best' yet

Muse singer says their new album could see them move away from rock in favour of strings

02 March 2009 - Muse say their fifth album could see them move away from their traditional rock sound to create a more "orchestral", classical offering.

Frontman Matt Bellamy said: "There's some really brilliant songs coming out, some of our best material I think."

The follow-up to 2006's Black Holes And Revelations is expected later this year coinciding with an Autumn tour.

Last month, the Devon band picked up the NME Award for Best Live Band for the second year in a row.

Speaking to BBC 6 Music, Bellamy revealed the record's sound could see the band abandoning their traditional rock leanings completely: "A symphonic album has turned up here, like a full collaboration with an orchestra.

"There's definitely a few things on the album which are segueing into each other and it's all very orchestral, but that could take over the album, so it could actually be kind of classical act basically, and move away from rock all together."

And he laughingly added: "We'll be knocking on Classic FM's door, you know?"

"We'll be knocking on Classic Fm's door, you know."
Muse frontman

In terms of their album progress, the singer said: "I'd say we're about halfway there. We're creating a lot of material now and a lot of it's going off in all sorts of directions.

"Over the next couple of months I think we're gonna have to start narrowing it down and start saying, 'Right, what are we going to do here?' Because at the moment we're just enjoying totally exploring everything that we've got to offer really, but I think it's going very well."

As for getting back out on the road, Bellamy explained: "We've got to finish the album first, but I'd hope that we're on for a tour later in the year sometime. Probably Autumn time or something like that I should think we'll be back on the road."

You can hear more from that interview by listening again to the Music Week or downloading the podcast.