The Globalist (song)

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Matt recording the first part of the song
Muse recording the song
Muse song
Name The Globalist
Album/single Drones
Length 9:42
Alternative titles
First live performance
Latest live performance
Recorded 2014/2015 - The Warehouse Studio, Vancouver, Canada; 2015 - Air Studios, London, UK
Writer/composer Matthew Bellamy
Producer Muse, Robert "Mutt" Lange

Description

Confirmed by Matt during an interview with Radio 1, to be the sequel to Citizen Erased[1]

Matt describes the song as being a ten-minute prog-rock nightmare dealing with the rise and fall of a dictator and is its own self-contained narrative.

Matt on The Globalist: "The first half sounds like something from a film, then it goes to a middle section that's metal then the outro is a big piano ballad." He also said that this song is one of his favourite songs from the album.

The song is one of the last 2 songs, that, according to Matt Bellamy, break the rules of a 3-piece-band album analogy.

Matt said that this song tell s the same story as the concept section of the album, but with a bad ending.

Information

The song's making of video was leaked/uploaded on Vimeo on March 29th 2015.
The first part of the song is reminiscent of Ennio Morricone's Il Mercenario (L'Arena) song. The whistling and sound effects were recorded in Air Studios, in 2015, probably due to the long delay time in its largest recording room known as Lyndhurst Hall (where Muse have previously recorded percussion for Unsustainable. In the middle part a heavy 7-string guitar riff (previously posted on Muse's Instagram) kicks in, and the drums and bass kick in shortly after. After that it turns into a slow piano ballad. Muse have also posted a lot of teasers for this particular song on Instagram during the recording process.
The heavy riff, especially when the drums kick in, reminds of Helsinki drum & bass jam, played during The Resistance Tour by Chris and Dom. The last part also has a Queen vibe, and is similar to one of Muse's previous works, Mon Cœur S'ouvre à Ta Voix.

Instrumentation

In the beginning, it features a slow-paced quiet violin part, with Matt whistling over the top, and during the calm build-up, an acoustic guitar, along with the slide guitar kick in. Matt also throws boxes and chairs in the studio, to make it sound like a revolver shoot-out in the beginning. After that, both Matt and Chris start playing a heavy guitar riff, previously posted on their Instagram, and the drums build up the tension before the heavy part kicks in. After that, when it kicks into a ballad, the piano and drums kick in, alongside the clean bass. The build-up for the middle part also features sound effects of a countdown from a rocket launch.

Whilst recording the slide guitar, Lange made Matt record the part 31 times- the most takes Matt has ever done.

References

  1. Matt Bellamy. (2015-03-23). Matt Bellamy on BBC Radio 1 - Dead Inside Premiere. Retrieved 2015-03-23.


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