The Weeknd, SZA, Travis Scott share their ‘Game of Thrones’-inspired track ‘Power is Power’

A week after announcing plans to release a “Game of Thrones”-inspired album, HBO and Columbia Records have finally unveiled its first single. On Thursday (April 18), the Weeknd, SZA, and Travis Scott shared their contribution to the fast-approaching new record.

The three-and-a-half-minute collaboration is titled “Power is Power,” a direct quote from HBIC Cersei Lannister to everyone’s least favorite Master of Coin Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish in season two of the series. Listen to “Power is Power” above.

In addition to the trio, For the Throne (Music Inspired by the HBO Series Game of Thrones) will also include contributions from the National, Muse frontman Matt Bellamy, Mumford & Sons, The Lumineers, X Ambassadors, Ellie Goulding, James Arthur, Maren Morris, and many more.

For the Throne (Music Inspired by the HBO Series Game of Thrones) is due out April 26. Additionally, Columbia Records is also offering several vinyl packages. One of the exclusive vinyl packages will feature nine different covers for the customer to choose from. The nine different covers represent the different houses featured on the series. According to the pre-order listing, the covers are “extremely limited” with only 2500 copies available worldwide.

While the digital versions of the album will be available at the end of the month, the vinyl versions will not be available until the end of July (July 26 to be specific). Pre-orders for For the Throne (Music Inspired by the HBO Series Game of Thrones) are available for purchase here. The full track listing for the album can be found below.

The final season of “Game of Thrones” premiered this past Sunday to a massive 17.4 million viewers. This broke HBO’s previous viewership rating record of 16.9 million which is attributed to the series’ season 7 finale.

FOR THE THRONE TRACK LISTING:

1. Maren Morris – “Kingdom of One”
2. SZA, The Weeknd, & Travis Scott – “Power is Power”
3. The Lumineers – “Nightshade”
4. Ellie Goulding – “Hollow Crown”
5. X Ambassadors – “Baptize Me” (Feat. Jacob Banks)
6. A$AP Rocky & Joey Bada$$ – “Too Many Gods”
7. The National – “Turn on Me”
8. James Arthur – “From the Grave”
9. Rosalía – “Me Traicionaste” (Feat. A.CHAL)
10. Lil Peep – “When I Lie (Remix)” (Feat. Ty Dolla $ign)
11. Lennon Stella – “Love Can Kill”
12. Chloe x Halle – “Wolf at Your Door”
13. Mumford & Sons – “Devil in Your Eye”
14. Matt Bellamy – “Pray (High Valyrian)”

Game of Thrones-inspired album to be released at the end of April

It looks like HBO is sparing no expense when it comes to promoting the final season of their massive cult hit, “Game of Thrones.” On Tuesday (April 9), the network announced a partnership with Columbia Records to release an album inspired by the show. Titled For the Throne (Music Inspired by the HBO Series Game of Thrones), the record is due out April 26; a week after the series’ final season is set to premiere.

The record will include contributions from the National, Muse frontman Matt Bellamy, Mumford & Sons, The Lumineers, X Ambassadors, Ellie Goulding, James Arthur, Maren Morris, and many more. The album will reportedly also include a major collaboration from SZA, the Weeknd, and Travis Scott.

A source close to the project confirmed the rumor to Pitchfork over the weekend, revealing that “’Game of Thrones’ asked the Weeknd to record the song for fans. The Weeknd then brought SZA and Travis Scott onto the project.”

The National’s inclusion on the upcoming album shouldn’t come as much of a surprise as the band recorded “The Rains of Castamere” in 2012 for season two of the series.

Pre-orders for For the Throne (Music Inspired by the HBO Series Game of Thrones) are available for purchase here. The album will feature nine different covers to represent the different houses featured on the series. According to Columbia Records, the covers are “extremely limited” and encourage fans to purchase the album with their favorite house as the cover before they run out.

It’s safe to assume that House Stark, House Lannister, and House Targaryen will be the first to go.

The soundtrack comes on the heels of several collaborations including Urban Decay, Mountain Dew, Shake Shack and most recently Oreo.

The final season of Game of Thrones lands on HBO on April 14.

Muse announce massive ‘Simulation Theory’ world tour itinerary for 2019

Months after teasing a massive tour schedule for the new year, Muse has finally confirmed those stops and venues. On Monday (Nov. 5), the United Kingdom-funded band unveiled their lengthy tour itinerary for 2019. The upcoming trek will find the trio performing at venues across the world during the months of January, February, March, April, May, June, and July.

Named the Simulation Theory world tour (after their impending new album), the North American portion of the world tour will begin on Feb. 22 at the Toyota Center in Houston. After spending almost two months traveling across the United States and Canada, the North American leg will conclude on April 10 at the TD Garden in Boston.

Following a month-long break in April and most of May, the trio will once again hit the road, but this time across the pond in Europe. The European leg of the Simulation Theory tour will begin on May 26 at Letiste Letnany in Prague and conclude two months later on July 26 at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid.

More tour dates will be announced at a later date.

Taking to Twitter, the group announced the massive tour itinerary with a simple message reading “Muse are pleased to announce the 2019 Simulation Theory World Tour!” In addition to the short message, the group also posted a minute-long video announcing the forthcoming trek.

Pre-sales for the upcoming tour will go on sale next Tuesday, Nov. 13 while general ticket sales will begin a few days later on Friday, Nov. 16. Fans who pre-order Muse’s new album will get first dibs on tickets.

The lengthy tour will be in support of Muse’s upcoming new album, Simulation Theory. The record, the band’s eighth studio effort, is due out this Friday, Nov. 9. Pre-orders for the new record are still available on Muse’s website.

The complete list of 2019 tour dates can be found below while Muse’s announcement video can be seen above.

SIMULATION THEORY WORLD TOUR DATES:

Feb. 22 – Houston, TX @ Toyota Center*
Feb. 24 – Dallas, TX @ American Airlines Center*
Feb. 26 – Phoenix, AZ @ Talking Stick Resort Arena*
Feb. 28 – Salt Lake City, UT @Vivint Smart Home Arena*
March 2 – Las Vegas, NV @ Mandalay Bay Events Center*
March 5 – San Diego, CA Valley @ View Casino Center*
March 7 – Sacramento, CA @ Golden 1 Center*
March 9 – Oakland, CA @ Oracle Arena*
March 24 – Sunrise, FL @ BB&T Center*
March 26 – Atlanta, GA @ State Farm Arena*
March 28 – Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena*
March 30 – Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre*
March 31 – Quebec City, QC @ Videotron Centre*
April 2 – Washington D.C. @ Capital One Arena*
April 4 – Detroit, MI @ Little Caesars Arena*
April 7 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center*
April 10 – Boston, MA @ TD Garden*
April 12 – Chicago, IL @ United Center*

May 26 – Prague, CZE @ Letiste Letnany
May 28 – Budapest, HUN @ Papp Laszlo Budapest Sportarena
May 29 – Graz, AUT @ Stadthalle Graz
June 1 – London, UK @ London Stadium
June 8 – Manchester, UK @ Etihad Stadium
June 12 – Riga, LAT @ Arena Riga
June 15 – Moscow, RUS @ Luzhniki Stadium
June 18 – Helsinki, FIN @ Suvilahti Open Air
June 22 – Krakow, POL @ Tauron Arena
June 27 – Nijmegen, NLD @ Goffertpark
June 29 – Cologne, GERMANY @ RheinEnergieStadion
June 30 – Werchter, BEL @ Werchter Festival
July 3 – Zurich, SWI @ Hallenstadion
July 6 – Paris, FRA @ Stade de France
July 9 – Marseille, FRA @ Stade Orange Velodrom
July 12 – Milan, ITA @ San Siro Stadium
July 16 – Bordeaux, FRA @ Matmut Atlantique
July 20 – Rome, ITA @ Stadio Olimpico
July 24 – Lisbon, PRT @ Passeio Maritimo de Alges
July 26 – Madrid, SPA @ Wanda Metropolitano

*with Walk the Moon

Muse, The Killers, Twenty One Pilots to headline iHeartRadio’s ALTer Ego concert

Muse, Twenty One Pilots, and the Killers are just some of the rock bands that will make their way to California in early 2019 for iHeartRadio’s second annual ALTer Ego concert. On Monday (Oct. 1), the media giant confirmed the lineup for their alternative music-centric show. Joining Twenty One Pilots, Muse and the Killers on the newly announced roster will be Weezer, Rise Against, Bishop Briggs, and the Revivalists.

According to a press release, the event will broadcast live across over 70 alternative and rock iHeartRadio stations, giving listeners who couldn’t make it the show the opportunity to hear some of rock’s biggest artists live.

“This has become alternative music’s biggest night,” said John Sykes, President of Entertainment Enterprises for iHeartMedia. “Millions of fans will be listening and watching this incredible lineup performing on stage at the Forum.”

“This will be one of the strongest alternative performance lineups to ever appear on one stage,” mirrors Tom Poleman, Chief Programming Officer for iHeartMedia.

“It’s such a strong lineup that it’s impossible to refer to any one of these incredible artists as the headliner – in fact, several of the performers have told us that it’s a show they would want to go to even if they weren’t already on the bill.”

Those who would like to attend the event will be given a special 24-hour, pre-sale offer courtesy of Los Angeles alternative radio station, ALT 98.7. ALT 98.7’s pre-sale will begin this Thursday, Oct. 4, at 10 a.m. PST and conclude this Friday, Oct. 5, at 10 a.m. PST. General ticket sales will then begin on Friday at 10 a.m.

iHeartRadio’s ALTer Ego concert will take place on Jan. 19, 2019 at the Forum in Los Angeles.

ALTer Ego joins a lengthy list of iHeartRadio concert series including the iHeartRadio Music Festival, the iHeartRadio Music Awards, iHeartRadio’s Jingle Ball concert tour, the newly launched iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina, the iHeartCountry Festival by AT&T, and the iHeartRadio Wango Tango by AT&T.

Watch: Muse and Terry Crews fight off a gremlin in ‘Pressure’

Muse are back with a brand new music video for another new song off their upcoming record. On Thursday (Sept. 27), the United Kingdom-founded band unleashed the five-minute clip for their latest single, “Pressure.” The video begins with an unknown person who may or may not be frontman Matt Bellamy, slipping on a pair of virtual reality goggles taking them to another world.

The person is transported to a high school dance set in the early 80s where things don’t exactly go as planned. Decorated with pastel-colored streamers and balloons, the viewer is invited into the school’s auditorium where the attendees are decked out in their most 80s-tastic wardrobe. Before the party can begin, the school’s principal (who’s played by Terry Crews) is seen on stage speaking to the students before introducing the band. Instead of Muse, Crews introduces the act as “hometown heroes and local battle of the bands winner” Rocket Baby Doll. For dedicated Muse fans, this is a massive Easter egg as the group won a battle of the bands competition under the moniker Rocket Baby Doll in the 90s.

While everyone in the auditorium looks unimpressed at first, things start to take a turn for the fun as the group begins to play. As the band performs, the kid viewers briefly saw at the beginning of the clip sneaks off with a fellow classmate to an abandoned classroom. While making out, they spill soda all over a computer which shots a laser beam across the room, striking the class pet. The laser beam turns the once harmless creature into a bio-engineered, zombie-making machine.

When the hamster invades the auditorium turning students into zombies, it’s up to principal Terry Crews and the guys from Rocket Baby Doll to save the day. Watch the Lance Drake-directed clip above.

“Pressure” will join previously released tracks “The Dark Side,” “Something Human,” “Thought Contagion,” and “Dig Down” on the band’s forthcoming record. Simulation Theory is due out Nov. 9 via Warner Bros. Records. Pre-orders for the album are currently available on the band’s website.

In addition to the new music video, the band also announced the initial tour stops for the North American and European legs of their monstrous world tour. The North American portion will include stops in Las Vegas, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Toronto and Washington. The European / United Kingdom leg will include stops in Bristol, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Moscow, and more. More dates will reportedly be announced soon. Those who pre-order the band’s album will get early access to tickets for the 2019 tour. For more information about the upcoming tour, head on over to Muse’s website.

Muse confirm release of ‘Simulation Theory,’ drop new single

After making fans wait almost two years for new music, Muse have finally confirmed the release of their ninth studio album. On Thursday (Aug. 30), the United Kingdom-founded band formally announced the title and release date for their forthcoming record. Titled Simulation Theory, the album is due out Nov. 9 through Warner Music.

The eleven-track record was produced by the band, along with producers Rich Costey, Mike Elizondo, Shellback, and Timbaland. Simulation Theory will be the follow-up to the group’s 2015 release, Drones. Pre-orders for the album are currently available on the band’s website.

According to an email sent to fans, the band will be offering three different versions of the record; standard, deluxe, and super deluxe. The standard version will feature 11 tracks, the deluxe version will feature 16 tracks, and the super deluxe will feature 21 tracks.

All pre-orders will receive instant downloads of the group’s previously released songs (“Something Human,” “Thought Contagion,” and “Dig Down”) as well as early access to tickets for their 2019 tour dates. In a response to a fan’s tour inquiry on social media, the band advised them to “stay tuned for tour details.”

In conjunction with the new album announcement, the band also released another new song from Simulation Theory; a tune titled “The Dark Side.” According to the band, fans should expect music videos for every song on the upcoming album. Watch the Lance Drake-directed clip above.

Back in July, fans began to debate whether the group’s new album would be titled Simulation Theory. Speculations began after the trio released the music video for “Something Human.” In the clip, frontman Matt Bellamy is seen putting a VHS titled “Simulation Theory” into a cassette player/VCR-looking item. The whole video revolves around Bellamy returning that VHS to a movie rental store before turning into a werewolf.

Watch Muse journey to the last movie rental store in ‘Something Human’

It’s been six months since Muse last released a new song, but when you’ve on the road touring nonstop for most of the year, it’s bound to happen. On Thursday (July 19), the United Kingdom-founded band fixed that by unleashed another 80s-tastic music video for their latest single “Something Human.” Described as “one man’s journey to return a VHS before he becomes a werewolf,” the music video pretty much lives up to that description.

The four-and-a-half-minute clip begins with a shot of a city limits sign with the word “infected” scrawled across it in bright red ink while a brightly lit skull sits at the base of the sign. The camera zooms passed the sign to a sports car and frontman Matt Bellamy. The viewer watches as Bellamy stands in the middle of a deserted road wearing what looks to be virtual reality headset as the sun rises in front of him.

The camera shifts to an item on the hood of the car which looks like a cross between a cassette player and VCR. Bellamy removes a VHS from the player (it’s titled “Simulation Theory”) and places it in its case and begins his journey to return the video. Along the way, he encounters some cops  (played by his band mates Chris Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard) who are relentless as they try to catch him.

While he manages to evade them by going into a wormhole, things do not look promising for the singer when the full moon appears and he turns into a werewolf just as he’s about to enter the video store.

“Something Human” was directed by Lance Drake who also directed the videos for both “Dig Down” and “Thought Contagion.” Watch the music video above.

In addition to the new song and its accompanying clip, Muse also announced that their eighth studio album will finally see a release time frame of November of 2018. “Something Human,” “Thought Contagion” and “Dig Down” are expected to appear on the upcoming album. The still-untitled record will be the follow-up to Muse’s 2016 release, Drones.

Watch Muse channel the 80s in ‘Thought Contagion’

As promised earlier in the week, Muse have returned with a brand new song. On Thursday (Feb. 15), the United Kingdom-founded band unleashed their first new song in almost a year. Taking to social media, the trio not only posted the audio for “Thought Contagion,” but also its accompanying music video.

The three-and-a-half minute clip begins with someone inserting some coins into an arcade game. As the camera pans up, the viewer sees that the name of the game is Dog Down, the same as Muse’s previously released track. The camera then pans to the person playing the arcade game which turns out to be a teenager dressed from head to toe in 80s garb. As he plays the game, a girl randomly pops up behind him and they head out, through what looks like a disheveled club.

As they head out into the street, the viewer watches as the girl attacks the guy, sucking his blood in the process and showing her true, zombie/vampire intentions. The viewer continues to watch as the guy tries to get away and eventually thinks he’s safe when an army of soldiers dressed as a SWAT team come barging in. It doesn’t take long for the protagonist to realize that they are not going to be much help when the girl uses her powers to get loose from their custody and they breakout into a choreographed dance.

“The meaning of the song ‘Thought Contagion’ is about how other people’s thoughts, ideas and beliefs can sometimes infect your mind, get into your head and change the way you think yourself,” explains frontman Matt Bellamy in a statement.

Watch the Lance Drake-directed clip above and try not to get some serious “Thriller” vibes.

As previously confirmed by the band. they are currently not in any rush to release a new, full studio album. Instead, they have opted to release singles once they have finished recording the new songs. While they do plan on releasing two more singles within the upcoming month, they did confirm that all the singles will eventually be featured on their eighth studio album, which according to the band, will see a release time frame of either fall of 2018 or early 2019.

“Dig Down” and “Thought Contagion” are the first set of new songs from Muse since the release of 2015’s Drones.

Muse to release new song on Thursday

Almost a year after releasing “Dig Down,” Muse have finally confirmed its follow-up single. On Tuesday (Feb.13), the United Kingdom-founded band announced the title and release date for their brand new single. Taking to social media, the trio announced that the name of the new song will be “Thought Contagion” and that fans should expect the track’s debut this Thursday, Feb. 15. the Twitter announcement was accompanied by a ten-second clip that features a poster that could have easily belonged to any 1980s hair metal band. Check out the band’s announcement, and the video, here.

Muse’s release of “Thought Contagion” comes almost a year after the band released “Dig Down.” According to the group back in May of 2017, there are not plans to release a new studio album any time soon, but rather a set of singles. At the time, they had recorded a total of three songs with one being a “heavy” track while the other two were not. As if the new song wasn’t enough, it looks like the band is already in the process of filming the music video for the track.

The band recently posted a casting call for people to appear in the new song’s video. The casting call included several requests including a couple of super edgy guys to play punk/street guys (wild hair, tattoos, and piercings welcomed), an elderly gal between the ages of 58 and 75, and a “huge bouncer” who must be comfortable in a hazmat suit.

In conjunction with the release of “Thought Contagion,” the band will be holding a live Q&A session through the Guardian. Fans are encouraged to send in question here as soon as possible.

“Dig Down” and “Thought Contagion” are the first set of new songs from Muse since the release of 2015’s Drones.

Eminem, The Killers, Muse to headline Bonnaroo 2018

Eminem, The Killers, and Muse are just some of the artists who will make their way down to Tennessee in early June for the 2018 incarnation of the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. On Tuesday (Jan. 9), festival organizers unleashed the lengthy lineup for the music festival’s seventeenth annual event.

For Eminem, Bonnaroo joins a long list of summertime music festivals the rapper will headline. As of now, the “Lose Yourself” musician will perform at California’s Coachella, Boston Calling, and New York’s Governors Ball. Like Eminem, The Killers will headline this year’s Boston Calling as well as Napa Valley’s BottleRock. As for Muse, the English band will also headline BottleRock alongside the Killers.

In addition to Eminem, the Killers, and Muse, acts like Future, Bassnectar, Paramore, Kaskade, Sturgill Simpson, Bon Iver, Khalid, Dua Lipa, Chromeo, Alt-J, Sheryl Crow, The Revivalist, Nile Rodgers & Chic, Manchester Orchestra, LANY, Sir Sly, and many more will appear at the four-day music festival. As revealed on the official flyer, Bon Iver will perform “two unique sets” during the event. Even though no additional information was given about that, fans should probably expect something cool from the Wisconsin-based band who have been quiet since the release of 2016’s 22, A Million.

Bonnaroo is set to take place during the weekend of June 7 – 10 at the Great Stage Park (aka the Farm) in Manchester, Tennessee. General ticket sale as well as VIP packages will go on sale beginning this Friday, Jan. 12, at 10 a.m. EST. For more information about Bonnaroo, head on over to the event’s website here.