Classic Rock feature

[basquebromance]

Muse are already thinking about where they will steer their 8th studio album. "I think we started thinking about what we're gonna do next as soon as Drones was released," says Dominic Howard. "I think that happens naturally. As far as timing and musically what that's going to be, that's a bit difficult to pin down. But we've already been talking about what it should be, where it can go and how we're gonna go about doing that. It might take a couple of years, like it usually does." And while Drones brought Muse back to their pompy, bombastic roots, Howard is predicting another sea change ahead. "I think it'll be another shift. We went into this album all about making it very organic & kind of rock & having this live energy, so I think next time around it'll be something completely different. Time to change & evolve again as a band." In the meantime, Muse are looking forward to showing off the in-the-round production they launched in November, which takes the band in an ambitious new direction on stage. "It's wild. It's such a different playing experience, it really is. The audience, for one, just feels so much closer. Particularly for me, because I'm normally sitting at the back of the stage, on a riser, & the audience is always a certain distance away, but now they're literally a few feet away. So that's really cool. And for Matt & Chris, just like walking around, running around all over the place & they have loads of different microphone positions to sing from. So there's a lot going on."