Simulation Theory (album)
Simulation Theory is the eighth studio album by English rock band Muse. It was released on 9 November 2018 through Warner Bros. Records and Helium-3. Muse co-produced the album with Rich Costey, Mike Elizondo, Shellback, and Timbaland. Following the darker themes of Muse's prior albums, Simulation Theory incorporates lighter influences from science fiction and 1980s pop culture, with extensive use of synthesisers. The contemporary political climate of the United States informed the lyrics.
Simulation Theory
Rather than working on the album as a whole, Muse focused on recording a single track at a time. Recording began at AIR Studios in London in early 2017 with Elizondo, before embarking on a tour of North America. Production restarted in Los Angeles in late 2017 with Costey, who previously produced Muse's albums Absolution (2003) and Black Holes and Revelations (2006).
The album cover, designed by Stranger Things artist Kyle Lambert, and its music videos homage 1980s pop culture such as Back to the Future, Michael Jackson's Thriller, and Teen Wolf. Simulation Theory 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 was released in a standard edition alongside two deluxe editions featuring alternate versions of its tracks. A world tour of North America, Europe and South America took place in 2019 to support the album. The album received generally mixed reviews, but became the band's sixth consecutive album to top the UK Albums Chart. A film based on the album and tour, Muse – Simulation Theory, was released in August 2020. As of November 2022, Simulation Theory has sold over one million copies worldwide.
Background[edit]
Following the conclusion of the Drones World Tour, Muse and tour director Glen Rowe expressed an eagerness to design a new more ambitious tour,[1][2] 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.[3][4] Drummer Dominic Howard suggested that the band might release singles or EPs to target audiences who did not listen to albums.[5]
Composition[edit]
Musically, Simulation Theory has been described as featuring electronic rock,[6][7] new wave,[8][9] pop rock,[6] synth-pop,[10] electro-funk.[8] Lyrically, it explores the role of simulation in society[11] and the simulation hypothesis, which proposes that reality is a simulation.[12] Biographer Mark Beaumont wrote that it would likely be songwriter Matt Bellamy's "dissection of the idea that we're all just lumps of code in the shape of unusually lumpy sims".[12] In contrast to the darker themes of Muse's previous albums,[13] Simulation Theory takes on a lighter science fiction theme, with "fantasy becoming real" cited by Bellamy as a core idea.[11]
The band wanted to blend elements of different eras, citing the music of Lana Del Rey, who mixes 50s-style music with lyrics concerning modern concepts in songs such as "Video Games", as an example.[14][15] The opening track, "Algorithm", features a musical juxtaposition between classical piano and 80s synthesizers and chiptunes.[16] "Something Human" is a song inspired by folk pop[17] written to counteract the "dark vibe" of Drones and the Drones World Tour. Bellamy described it as a "tender, down-to-earth, simplistic song" that describes the burnout and homesickness he felt towards the end of the tour.[18] "Pressure" is a power pop track with contrasting horns and guitars, reminiscent of nerd rock.[19][20] The song features several interchanging riffs.[21]
"Dig Down", one of the first songs written, is a reaction to the social and political climate following the Brexit referendum and the 2016 US presidential election, hoping to "give inspiration, optimism and hope to people to fight for the causes they believe in."[22] "Thought Contagion" was written in late 2017 following the band's move to Los Angeles, California, and the restart of production.[23] The verses stem from Bellamy's anxieties observing American news at the time;[24][25] its chorus recalls Bellamy's concerns about the power misinformed or ideological people have over their audiences.[26][27] The track's title was inspired by scientist Richard Dawkins, who compared the spread of thoughts, "regardless of their accuracy and truth", to a viral disease.[28] "The Void" was used for the opening titles of the 2019 BBC/PBC documentary series The Planets.[29]
Muse
Additional musicians
Production