Muse have hopped on the dubstep bandwagon — and wouldn’t you know it, like everything else the Brit rock trio churns out, they’ve done it in epic fashion. For a taste of Muse trying their hand at the biggest trend in EDM, check out Exhibit A: ’Unsustainable,’ the latest track unleashed from their forthcoming sixth full-length album, ‘The 2nd Law.’

Muse have always incorporated electronic elements into their epic sonic brew — 2006′s ‘Black Holes and Revelations’ especially wore its Depeche Mode influences on its sleeve – so a little detour down dubstep avenue isn’t the biggest surprise in the world. That said, frontman Matthew Bellamy and the boys have always attempted to stay one step ahead of musical trends, so seeing them try their hand at dubstep at a point so far back on the dubstep popularity curve does seem a little strange — and frankly, even a bit disappointing.

But forget all that for a minute and let’s get down to the important part: Does it work? We won’t get the whole picture until the entirety of ‘The 2nd Law’ is unleashed on Oct. 1 and we can judge ‘Unsustainable’ in the context of one segment of an entire album — Muse, after all, aim to release albums that fit together as organic wholes.

As a single track, they do pull off an adequate approximation of dubstep. Mashing together midtempo rock beats, a synth orchestral string section, samples of a woman talking about the imminent demise of our planet (via unsustainable energy practices, of course) and some soaring background vocals with all the grinding, bass-dropping warble effects that define dubstep, ‘Unsustainable’ seems all set to take over the dance floor, no remixing required.

Listen to Muse, ‘Unsubstainable’

7 out of 10 diffuser.fm rating
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