“There’s definitely a little bit of U2 creeping in there I’d say,” he admits. “A little whisper of early U2. I can hear a bit of that in there. We’ve got a song that sounds a little like ‘New Year’s Day’.”

What, punky, new wave sort of stuff?

“No,” Bellamy explains, “there’s something about the rhythm section. I think in U2’s early stuff they had a lot of really good minimal rhythm section stuff – you know, quite simple guitar parts and bass and drums. Not too many cymbals – more toms and drums. That’s what definitely we’re aiming for. A bit more primal and bit more stripped down.”

Not the usual Muse way of doing things. . .

“No, it probably won’t sound that way by the time we’re finished! What else do we have, though? Oh yeah, we’ve got a bit of glam rock creeping in there as well, a bit of Mark Bolan-style. Which I think is a bit of fun, really. I think we can get away with that at this stage.”

We’ll have more – much more! – on Muse ahead of their Marlay Park gig in our next issue out on Thursday July 31.