If you’ll forgive (yet) another gross oversimplification of the way things are, the job of every songwriter is to create an alternative world for their audience to visit. This is what people need music for. They can visit it wholeheartedly, as an escape, while shutting their eyes to hide any clue that they currently already reside in a perfectly functioning plane of reality, or they can try and lay it over the top of their daily life, so reality acts as a kind of facial background to music’s drawn-on-moustache.

There is also some difference as to what kind of moustache the songwriter wishes to draw. Some try and keep things as close to the real world as possible, carefully detailing each hair and follicle, so that the only difference between the two planes of existence is the moustache itself. Others draw on a cartoon moustache, specs, a false nose and then change the colour of the sky.

Muse, it’s fair to say, would also add chrome antlers and some scaly green bloodshotting to the eyes.

(There is a video. But you can’t see it. Not here. Not now. Not yet.)

What’s fascinating about this song is that it sees Muse turning their reality-altering Preposteriser Ray on their own back catalogue. Taking (only) slightly less melodramatic love songs – LOVE SONGS FROM THE END OF INFINITY SQUARED, lest we forget – like ‘Invincible’ and even parts of ‘Plug In Baby’ (similar melody in the chorus) and making them bigger, broader, more overwhelming, if such a thing is even possible.

And the way they’ve done this is to wholly embrace the music of Queen, and West End musicals, as if this is what they meant to sound like all alone. They’re We Will Rock You, only with scruffier haircuts and more lyrics about space. I can see why some Muse fans might feel let down by the softer, less rockmonstery bits, but it’s not like these elements haven’t been part of the band’s sound from the start.

And as a soundtrack song to the Twilight series of films – a series which is all about the reality-crushing pain of troubled love – it’s a perfect fit.

One final thought: there are times when listening to Matt Bellamy sing is similar to watching someone fill a balloon with water. The more time goes by, the more you wonder when he’s gonna explode. The good news is, if he ever DOES, you can bet it’ll be in the most extravagant and astonishing manner possible. The man’s a pro.

Download: Out now
www.muse.mu
BBC Music page

(Fraser McAlpine)

Above and Beyond Magazine says: “Neutron Star Collision…reminds [me] of their previous work Origin of Symmetry, which is in my mind, the real and honest Muse.”

Details Of My Life says: “It’s a bit campy and devoid of any serious rock and/or roll.”

Twilighters Anonymous says: “To be quite honest, I would love anything that Muse wrote and put together.”

View full post on BBC Audio & Music | Radio 1 Chart Blog

Here’s a question I never thought I’d ask: has anyone reading this ever been brought to actual tears by an N-Dubz song? I don’t mean in a snarky sense, y’know like someone would overdramatically claim that the ‘Dubz are so appalling that it makes them WEEP for the FUTURE OF MANKIND ITSELF.

No, what I’m asking is whether you have ever found yourself misting up while listening to ‘Ouch’ or ‘I Need You’. Genuine misting, OK? Proper actual tears of unadulterated melancholy (or, at a push, ecstatic joy). Anyone?

Well if you haven’t, maybe now is the time to start…

(Here’s the video. Don’t be sad, but I have to tell you that it does not feature N-Dubz, or Bodyrox, to any noticeable degree.)

The early signs are promising. The massive churning string section from Pachelbel’s ‘Canon in D Major’ – or the Farm’s ‘All Together Now’ if you are your own dad – is well recognised as a sure fire tear-jerker. Throw in a few “everything’s gonna be alright” chants, inspired by Bob Marley’s similarly eye-moistening ‘No Woman No Cry’ and we are well on the way to a total blub-fest before we even LOOK at the video.

Normally I’d say the song has to work on its own merits, and you can’t take the video into account, but this is a rare exception. It’s a selection of dance clips from Streetdance 3D, intercut with a slightly mizzy kid in a red tracksuit. So you’ve got effort and skill and spectacle, juxtaposed with insecurity and comfort. A lip-trembling mix, and one which represents the heart of the matter in hand.

And here’s N-Dubz, puffed up with how far they’ve come, proud of everything they’ve achieved and, yes, STILL doing that blessed “nana-naii” because that is their trademark (albeit one which is less useful to the band than the fact that they sound so very much like themselves. Just sayin’). They know they have the strength to get through the bad times, because they have already had to find this out, the hard way. And so long as they’ve got each other to rely on, the way they always have, well there’s nothing they can’t do…

…sorry, just give me a minute. My, er, contact lens has moved out of place or summink…

Download: Out now
CD Released: May 25th
www.ndubz.com
BBC Music page

(Fraser McAlpine)