Muse have revealed that it may be a while before they release anything close to an album, blaming the industry and the way people listen to music.

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The band’s last album was 2015’s ‘Drones’. Last year, Bellamy suggested that the band could be heading in a more stripped-back and acoustic direction for their next record.

“I feel like I say it every time with each album but I feel like it might be time to actually do something a bit more stripped down,” he said.


Now, the band have revealed that they’re not focusing on albums at all, after releasing a string of standalone singles.

“I think the industry has changed too much since we started, certainly since we put our first record out. But even in the last five or six years, streaming has become the way that most people seem to listen to music this days and I think that’s affected the way people listen to music,” bassist Chris Wolstenholme told Music Feeds.

“People tend not to consume themselves in entire albums like they did when I was younger. It seems to be that the whole industry and the platforms for listening to music are catered around people listening to individual songs and creating their own playlists and things like that.”

He goes on to explain that there’s “less pressure” in releasing the “odd single here or there”.

“Sometimes as a band — even in times when you’re off — you don’t necessarily feel like you want to make an entire album, but sometimes it’s quite nice to get together as a band for a bit of fun and if anything comes of it you think well, ‘Well why not release it as a standalone single?’” he added.


“I think for years things have been tapered around an album campaign, promoting an album and having singles to promote the album. I guess we all felt that with the way that streaming works these days and that there’s so much emphasis on individual songs, that there was no reason why we couldn’t do that,” he continued.

“I know at some point we will do another album but I think it’s a nice thing to do in the meantime so the fans feel like they’re still getting something; we haven’t completely disappeared off the face of the planet.”