Unsustainable (song)

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Dom with the names Leaked
Muse song
Name The 2nd Law: Unsustainable
Album/single The 2nd Law
Length 3:48
Alternative titles Unsustainable
First live performance -
Latest live performance -
Recorded 2011-2012
Writer/composer Matthew Bellamy
Producer Muse

Description

Doom-drenched operas full of newsreel reports from the end of civilisation, rapping Terminators, trumpets inflating like lifeboats and Exorcist piano pulses tinkling goodbye to the globe. "It's the noise of humanity on a tiny planet in the middle of nothing," says Matt. "Hanging around space would be so peaceful and quiet and suddenly you come to this little blip that's f-----g chaos! I see it as drifting away from the planet and going into the peacefulness of what actually is gonna happen at the end of it all, which is nothingness."[1]

When earlier describing the album on twitter Matt was possibly referring to 'The 2nd Law: Unsustainable' as 'ambient rebellious dubstep'. The piece starts with an orchestral section with choral emphasis, that gradually builds up to a climax. During a build up, a female voice reads the above text, at the end of which, a heavily effected, vocoder-style voice enters with the word 'unsustainable'. A dubstep-style section follows, utilising pick scrapes, Twisty Kaoss Pad, KAOSS Pad manipulations and other sounds typical of Bellamy's guitar style, backed with drums and bass and fragmented repetitions of the word 'unsustainable'.

This song has been used in the official trailer for The 2nd Law.

The song is a unique mix of classical music, progressive rock and dubstep.

After the first 'Dubstep' breakdown, the song goes into the heavier drum beat, featuring a Whammy guitar, mildly distorted bass and a loop of the robot sound. Matt's voice is momentarily featured, but the song's 'lyrics' are narrated by Katie Razzall, a channel 4 news reporter, and the robot voice.

Information

By error of Bellamy, Howard, Wolstenholme or Kirk, the name of the song was leaked by a photo on Twitter, until it was deleted.

On 4th June 2012 Matt tweeted the following text:[2]

All natural and technological processes proceed in such a way that the availability of the remaining energy decreases. In all energy exchanges, if no energy enters or leaves an isolated system, the entropy of that system incre,cre,cre,cre,c,c,creases. Energy continuously flows from being concentrated, to becoming dispersed, spread out, wasted and useless. New energy cannot be created and high grade energy is being destroyed. An economy based on endless growth is...

With the missing word being "Unsustainable".

The song appears to feature in a trailer for The 2nd Law, released on 6th June 2012, making it the first song released from The 2nd Law. According to Matt he is 'just gonna go mental on the Whammy pedal' on this song.

On 13th July 2012, Muse tweeted the same picture with Dom and the names leaked in a board, but with the working titles replaced by the new album tracking list. During the recording process, the working title was "Unsustainable".


Release

The song's music video, featuring the full song has been made downloadable on August 9th, 2012, when buying the Deluxe Box Set of The 2nd Law on muse.mu. It has not been released as a single.

Lyrics

All natural and technological processes proceed in such a way, the availability of the remaining energy decreases.

In all energy exchanges; If no energy enters or leaves an isolated system, the entropy of that system increases. Energy continuously flows from being concentrated to becoming dispersed, spread out, wasted and useless. New energy cannot be created and high grade energy is being destroyed. An economy based on endless growth is Unsustainable

The fundamental laws of thermodynamics will place fixed limits on technological innovation, and human advancement. In an isolated system; the entropy can only increase. A species set on endless growth is Unsustainable

References

  1. http://www.muselive.com/index.php?m=single&id=6747
  2. Matthew Bellamy. (2012-06-04). New energy cannot be created .... Twitter. Retrieved 2012-06-04 from twitter.com.


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