International DJ Zedd has revealed that he’s been working on a new collaborative album with Muse frontman Matt Bellamy, at the same time as the legendary rocker has shared some thought-provoking insights on the role of guitars in modern music.
In a new interview with the BBC, Bellamy has declared the age of the axe-wielding ‘guitar hero’ pretty much over.
“The guitar has become a textural instrument rather than a lead instrument. And I think that’s probably a good thing,” he says.
“What’s exciting about this period of music is you can mix classical with hip-hop and rock in the same song. As a rock band you’re slightly one foot in the past, playing instruments like guitar, bass and drums.”
Bellamy adds that Muse have “always kept an eye on what’s gong on” and “taken influence from things we think are cool in contemporary music”, which we saw in action with 2012’s controversial foray into dubstep on The 2nd Law and — more recently — the trap-inspired drums on their new single, ‘Thought Contagion’.
“That’s the first time we’ve used something like that – big 808 [drum machine] drops and stuff,” says Bellamy.
“It’s almost like genre was an aesthetic that people attached themselves to, not just in music but also in the way they dressed and the kind of friends they hung around with,” he continues.
“I feel like that age has come to an end and what’s interesting about music now is not just the style-blending but the era-blending. So you’ll have an artist like Lana Del Rey doing a song that sounds and feels like it’s set in the 1950s, but she’s singing about video games.
“It’s an interesting time for era-blending and creating something which is timeless, and not particularly attached to any time.”
And it seems that the Muse multi-instrumentalist has been attempting to do just that with German-Russian producer Zedd.
“I’ve started a new record with Matthew from Muse,” Zedd recently spilled to Zane Lowe on Beats 1 Radio.
“We started towards the end of last year — it’s a super exciting project for both of us because he’s never co-written a song with anybody and I don’t know if he’s actually done anything outside of Muse,” he continued. “He’s a complete legend to me and massive inspiration. I wouldn’t be making the same music if his band wasn’t around.”
Meanwhile, Muse — who recently wrapped up a tour of Australia — are tipped to drop their yet-to-be-titled eighth studio album later this year.
Watch their new video for ‘Thought Contagion’ below.
