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Muse - 'Uprising'

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Vicki Vicki | 10:46 UK time, Sunday, 6 September 2009

Muse

Close your eyes. Imagine yourself in a world far, far away from here. A world where pick 'n' mix grows on trees, and the moon is a giant pickle. Imagine, in this world, you hear a noise. A beautiful, but dark noise. You walk towards where the sound is coming from to find Muse, jamming with Deborah Harry of Blondie, while David Tennant repeatedly rewinds and plays the intro to Doctor Who. Then you notice that 'Atlas' by Battles is blaring from the speakers, whilst the faint sound of 'Shoot The Runner' by Kasabian pumps out of a scratched mp3 player. Oh, and Sonic the Hedgehog's there, too. And they're all floating on spaceships. With sunglasses instead of eyes.

*Whispers* and there is no sun.

In the shell of a nut, this is what Muse's new single sounds like (minus the moonpickle).

(Some of the song is streaming on . Create your own video with your mind...JUST LIKE I HAVE)

From trying to recreate 'Bliss' in ringtone form on my one-tone phone when I was 15, to attempting (and failing) to learn 'Plug In Baby' on my first guitar a year later, Muse have always been a big part of my life (almost as big a part as white chocolate mice and strawberry bonbons). So, naturally I'm very, very excited about their new single.

'Uprising' is good. It's got this awesome heavy, sexy bass not dissimilar to that of 'Time is Running Out', reminding us all what a bass is really for. Bellamy's vocals are, as usual, incredible: each word that leaves his lips seems to have potential to do more damage, have more impact, then the last. Then there's the handclaps that bring a human quality to the song's futuristic feel; and while the guitar seems to mimic Blondie's 'Call Me' to the point it's almost distracting, it's jerkiness running at odds to the dark feel the song has - creating a jarring experience that demands attention.

The only niggle here is that they've been away three years - THREE WHOLE YEARS - and they've burst back onto the scene with a song that well, aside from it's Doctor Who-isms and hanclaps, hasn't really seen that much progression in terms of their epic, swirly sound.

Saying that, one of the things that's always been great about Muse is that they're one of the few bands to grace the charts who actually have something to say (ooooh, I went there), and this song is no exception: "Rise up and take the power back, it's time that/the fat cats had a heart attack" has all the pro-active angst of Rage Against The Machine.

'Uprising' may not be a stand out track when compared to their back catalogue, and a lot of people will be expecting a lot more from Muse's new album, but none of this changes the fact it's a brilliant song with real integrity... and to hear a song like that be played next to Cascada on a Thursday afternoon, is always a treat. In fact, I guess you could say it is out of this world...

Lunar gherkin, anyone?

Four starsDownload: Out now
CD Released: September 7th

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(Vicki Lutas)

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