Muse reveal Drones plans for upcoming tour

Band intend to fly objects over the crowd, and speak of new album concept

10:44 16th April 2015

Muse have spoken out about their plans for their upcoming tour, revealing that they hope to fly Drones over the heads of the audience.

In keeping with the name and concept of the band's upcoming seventh album, frontman Matt Bellamy told Los Angeles Radio Station Alt 98.7 that they'd be going one step further on top of their already highly ambitious stage production to incorporate 'flying objects' into the year ahead's live shows.

"We always like to use the modern technology in our shows, the latest video screens or light shows, lasers, whatever is out there," said Bellamy. "Drones are obviously an interesting thing to try to bring into the live show so we're going to try and do that.

"There's going to be some difficulty with red tape of health and safety about flying things over, but the general thing idea is that as the tour starts that we'll be using flying objects."

Watch the video for 'Psycho' by Muse below

When quizzed on if Drones was strictly a 'concept' album, Bellamy replied: "Yeah, pretty much, yeah. But it's not a strict concept in the way that Pink Floyd did it; the songs work in their own right independently, but they gel together based on the concept of drones.

"The vague narrative follows a kind of protagonist who goes through this journey of losing everything and sort of feeling like being brainwashed, being drawn into the military and becoming a person who feels like they've lost their soul, then eventually coming back and rediscovering it and fighting back against the systems that oppressed them – that journey takes place across the first eight songs of the album and then the ending of the album is a separate epilogue of sorts."

Not only will Drones feature the sequel to Origin Of Symmetry's 'Citizen Erased' with the '10 minute epic 'The Globalist', but Bellamy also revealed that track 'JFK' features a sample of a speech from John F Kennedy on a song about "human strength, human spirit and the desire that we all have for freedom."

He continued: "It's basically I'm interested in what drones represent from a technological point of view, it's a point in time where these machines are starting to emerge. It's the kind of thing where when we grew up we watched things like Terminator 2 and you'd see these kind of things happening in the future but we're kind of there now, so I thought it was an interesting topic to sing about and talk about – what it means, what it means for humans' involvement, humans' emotions being taken out of the equation in things like warfare and so on, so I just thought it would be an interesting topic to tackle, but you don't need to know that to enjoy the album – there's a bunch of cool riffs on there."

Listen to the band's full interview with Alt 98.7 below

Last month, Muse this week completed their intimate Psycho tour - check out eight things we learned from the shows here.

Muse will release Drones on 8 June - the month they headline Download Festival alongside Slipknot, Kiss, Marilyn Manson and many more. See below for tickets and information or win tickets here.

17. 'Endlessly': A sorely overlooked gem from Absolution, showcasing the band's rarely seen subtle side as Bellamy mournfully pines over trip-hop beats and haunting electronica.
16. 'Supremacy': The name's Bellamy, Matt Bellamy. A lot has been written about how this is the best Bond tune that never was - and how. With stadium rock anthemics, shrieking histrionics, call-to-arms lyrics and one helluva riff, this is all that Muse do best in one fierce and epic beast.
15. 'Agitated': Muse's first three records came with a plethora of incredible b-sides - surprising early fans by showing their more unhinged side. From the dark art-rock of 'Spiral Static' to the twisted madness of 'Yes Please', their b-sides are a treasure trove of awesomeness for fans to discover - but it's 'Agitated' above all others that has a special place in the hearts of Musers.
14. 'Microcuts': By far one of the most challenging and astounding tracks they've ever recorded, it lies at the centre of what makes Origin Of Symmetry such a masterpiece: darkness, paranoia, fearless ambition, and it's heavy as hell. That outro riff sounds bloody brilliant live too.
13. 'Map Of The Problematique': It's essentially their take on Depeche Mode's 'Enjoy The Silence', which was only ever going to be wonderful.
12. 'Resistance': The sound of Matt, Dom and Chris travelling back to the 1980s for some Ultravox meets Depeche Mode stadium cheese. Come on, Wembley: "Love is our resiiiiiiiiistaaaaaaaaaaance"
11. 'Dead Star': The closest Muse have come to metal, this stand-alone single was a double A-side with the magnificent 'In Your World' in 2002 and really does deserve to be played live. There's so much to enjoy: that riff, that chorus, those drums, that bassline, that scream: "FIIIGHTING YOURSEEEEELF"...
10. 'Hyper Music': Few bands could get away with releasing a track this delightfully demonic as a single.
9: 'Thoughts Of A Dying Atheist': Matt Bellamy channelling The Smiths, with surprisingly brilliant results.
8. 'Hysteria': One of the most iconic basslines of the last 20 years, let alone one of the finest and most anthemic rock singles of the millennium.
7. 'Knights Of Cydonia': One of those rare incredible tracks that's perfect for both giving a show an explosive opening, or ending on an almighty high. This space-rock magnum opus where Ennio Morricone meets Queen and Star Wars is probably the best song about war on Mars that you'll ever hear.
6. 'Newborn': The incredible opener to the seminal Origin Of Symmetry, this was the first track to really crystallise the epic melodrama and balls-out madness that Muse would come to do so well. From the haunting lullaby-esque intro to that monolithic riff, guitar solo, the desperate gasps in between vocals and absolutely MEGA chorus, it's far more worthy of the classic status that 'Plug In Baby' overshadows it with.
5. 'Muscle Museum': Their first track to really get people's attention, it sounds as essential today as it did back in 1999. The arresting combination of syncopated drums, that chugging robotic bassline and Greek guitar (not to mention one of Bellamy's highest-pitched howls) have left fans gagging for its return to their live set.
4. 'Supermassive Black Hole': It may totally ape the sound of underrated Belgian stoner-rockers Millionaire (something the band themselves admit) but that menacing combo of Marilyn Manson and Prince makes for Muse's sexiest moment, most accessible and awesome single.
3. 'Space Dementia': This thundering piano epic is an entire opera, packed into six minutes.
2. 'Madness': Beautiful stuff. Why? It simply boils down the elements of Muse's most interesting latter day experiments into a pure and simple form. It picks up the ambient and minimal electronica that they last covered on Absolution's 'Endlessly' and lifts it with the groove of 'Sign O' The Times' by Prince and drives it along with the slow but bright-burning fire of U2' Achtung Baby and the life-affirming 'A Kind Of Magic' by Queen. All the bombast is laid to rest in a bright and elegant bubble of pop.
1. 'Citizen Erased': The jewel in the glittering crown of Origin Of Symmetry, fan favourite 'Citizen Erased' sees Muse set the bar for ambitious stadium rock. At a time when everyone was stripping their sound down to meet the ascent of Converse-wearing garage rock, Muse were storming the world with their freakshow live tour as three mad scientists showed that rock wasn't stale - the focal point of those gigs being this 7 minute, multi-layered, modern rock existential odyssey. It's their 'Paranoid Android' - albeit infinitely better.