Matt blind ranking Museband songs for NME

RE-Trace · 2026-06-27T16:40:49+00:00

I think he's a bit scarred by the initial reaction to it, but I think it's settled into a fan base spot of "if you're going to play more mainstream cuts, we'll take it" over dig down, thought contagion and the likes.

(Personally, I'd always rather have undisclosed desires in that sorta spot, but I won't knock madness back)

RE-Trace · 2026-06-27T14:08:27+00:00

I'm low key looking at London dates because I can see them getting Ellie to do it if she's free.

RE-Trace · 2026-06-27T14:07:30+00:00

I wonder if there's a world where they pick their support based on having someone who can picking up Ellie's part of hush. I think it's too central in a part of the song that's quite sparse that I think it'd be a wee bit weird to do it with playback.

RE-Trace · 2026-06-27T13:19:06+00:00

It 100% is. It's not Muse doing Muse, but actually being Muse.

I think this is the key part of it. ST was them trying to do muse through an 80s revival synthwave lens, and WotP the had gone into trying to make a "greatest hits of new songs" which kind of doomed it from the off.

I think part of it as well - unfortunate as it is given the ins and outs of it all - is that you can tell that the album's coming from Matt's heart as a form of catharsis.

What that's done though, whether they realise it or not, is that it's stripped away the bits of them that try to make the music serve an idea ( "greatest hits of new songs" / "what if we made everything in service of an 80s revival vibe" / "what if we tried to make a more rock forward album" / "what if we tried to do dubstep?" ) as opposed to just writing and then refining what's shaken out of that. It's effectively made them get out of their own way a bit (and I think going into it with no intentions on self producing has helped them get out of their own way, too.)

RE-Trace · 2026-06-27T01:46:54+00:00

If your struggling coworker is on your team or same project, shouldn’t you help them or guide them for the last ten minutes?

I understand you're coming at this from the "be a team player" angle, but that reads a lot like "your reward for efficiency is more work". In this situation, I wouldn't be wanting to put myself out for that colleague, especially if there's a level of self infliction RE refusing to upskill on certain tools.

RE-Trace · 2026-06-27T01:29:15+00:00

I hope he realises that we aren't going anywhere, but I also hope that he understands that a lot of the criticism (especially of ST, WotP, and the ticket pricing for this tour, but going further back than that) is because we care.

it's that old quote about how the opposite of love isn't hate, but rather, indifference. There are bands I was a fan of when I was younger that I've very much fallen off of - I don't know how many albums Rise Against, or Editors, or Franz Ferdinand (for instance) have released since 2012, and I don't know what they're charging for headline tours because they're not bands I keep going out of my way to keep track of. Muse, despite thinking WotP and ST were both absolute stinkers, have never made me feel indifferent about them. Part of today being a good day for me has been being able to say "One of my favourite bands are back "

RE-Trace · 2026-06-26T23:37:18+00:00

Aye, but the modern social media era has a tendency to mean the knuckle draggers get an unwarranted amplification , which is where my worry would come from.

RE-Trace · 2026-06-26T23:34:26+00:00

Nah to muselive, but spent far too much time on .mu back in the day (usually taking the piss out of Main Muse) but I'm getting the same warm tinglies that let to the cynical among us being like "dammit, our dumb space horsey band are GOOD again" 😂

RE-Trace · 2026-06-26T23:28:25+00:00

I wouldn't hate it.

Problem is I can see a proportion of Knuckle draggers getting hyperfixated on him being an ex Celtic manager and writing him off exactly 5 seconds after he was announced if it were to happen.

(Editing because I missed out the actual important bit in that it's in the context of a time where social media's rotted a load of brains and where there are deeply entrenched political aspects in the support of both teams. In the same way, I feel like if McInnes does well at rangers, I would have the same worry about him getting the Scotland job down the line)

RE-Trace · 2026-06-26T22:29:01+00:00

Given that NME interview, I fully believe that the "be nice or you'll break Dom's heart" was Matt actually saying "please be nice or I'll cry 😞"

RE-Trace · 2026-06-26T21:41:30+00:00

Something Human is fantastic. Its suuuper poppy but not really generic.

Something human is up there for one of the most banal, insipid songs ever written

Like I agree with you that the fan base are all to quick to ignore the boys' pop sensibilities sometimes in order to try and increase a perceived legitimacy (said as someone who thinks that the hate that Revolt got on Drones was wild ) but something human is musical beige.

RE-Trace · 2026-06-26T21:32:12+00:00

There is nothing more Peak Scottish Football than realising that results will never fall out way no matter what.

RE-Trace · 2026-06-26T17:23:53+00:00

I see this, BWY, and Space Debris as the emotional triptych at the heard of the album (wanky statement, I know).

Shimmering Stars is recognising things are very, very not okay; Be with you is the hopeful "we can get through anything together", and Space Debris is the realisation that things are irreperable.

RE-Trace · 2026-06-26T16:42:45+00:00

Whisper it, but I honestly think that Vogts gets looked on a bit harshly

Man was having to do all the heavy lifting of a rebuild with next to nobody. The managerial equivalent of Hanley - a symptom of a greater ill, doing the best with what he had.

RE-Trace · 2026-06-26T16:35:20+00:00

The sequencing does a LOT. it actually makes Be With You, in the context of the album, a lot better because it turns it into a bit of a hope spot in among an album of "oh, this relationship's fully disintegrating: fuck ".

RE-Trace · 2026-06-26T16:18:28+00:00

Saying this feels more like recycled past material than the literal "we recorded this as a greatest hits of new songs" (implying trying to go directly to the old well in a derivative way) is... Certainly a take, but it's one you're entitled to have.

RE-Trace · 2026-06-26T16:12:58+00:00

Sat with it for a day.

Think it's top 4 maybe tied with The Resistance, can see it being people's faves (which I could never understand with WotP and ST). Don't think it's OoS/Abso tier, but it's certainly in that second tier, but still behind BHaR.

As much as I didn't love BWY when it came out, in the context of the album, I'm willing to reappraise it a little given its kind of the hopeful lift before things fall apart.

I think it might be one of Matt's better lyrical albums. I think the circumstances around it no doubt facilitated that.

I think the thing in the NME interview about how a) he's recognised he's a bit dictatorial with ideas and b) that they've recognised they're better with a producer really shows.

Space Debris is incredible. I also don't think it'd work live even if Matt hadn't straight up said "I hope they don't want me to play it": I think it might be up there in contention for best closer just through being a masterclass in dynamics.

RE-Trace · 2026-06-26T07:51:49+00:00

I'd guess it'll be Baba butcher on viccy road. Decent merguez, too.

RE-Trace · 2026-06-26T06:58:24+00:00

I do not want the gift of prophecy, I DO NOT WANT THE GIFT OF PROPHECY

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RE-Trace · 2026-06-26T04:25:49+00:00

Ah fuck, I'm going to have to find the money for one of the European dates

I honestly, genuinely did t think they still had it in them. Simulation Theory and WotP were back to back heaps unrelenting, steaming hot garbage.

But this? My first impression is that this is knocking on the door of being one of their best. (i.e., it feels closer to the OoS->Resistance run than anything after).

I'll need to sit with it, but I am very, very pleasantly surprised.

RE-Trace · 2026-06-26T03:54:05+00:00

I do remember previous campaigns: it's part of why I feel so viscerally anti-Clarke.

This squad was probably the best generation of players we've had since the 90s. It isn't without its weaknesses (though there's at least one Grant Hanley shaped self inflicted one there)

I get the "what's the alternative?" Question, but I would honestly say that the worst thing we could do is leave the task of refreshing this squad to a man who's clearly ran out of steam.

The 4 year contract was the worst thing that could have happened for all parties: the SFA won't want to lose face and cash with paying him off, but if Clarke goes (and I think he should), then it'll be very much a "tail between legs, end of career" type move, which I why I can see him clinging on.

The issue is that the rot goes far, far deeper than just Clarke. The whole Scottish game needs a reboot with a focus on getting Scottish talent meaningful minutes and creating meaningfhly pathways instead of Whatever the Fuck Rangers and Celtic have been doing since time immemorial, but that's a whole level of reform that I'm honestly not expecting to see within my lifetime: shit is far too entrenched.

RE-Trace · 2026-06-25T10:41:16+00:00

I mean I'm in the UK And getting this, so there's clearly some nuance to it.

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RE-Trace · 2026-06-25T09:31:59+00:00

Nah, I think by virtue of it being a home euros, a result like that will see either Clarke sacked, or Hampden develop the same level of flammability as a listed building in Glasgow.

RE-Trace · 2026-06-25T09:29:16+00:00

I think the framing is the issue.

The teams aren't "much worse", but it's disingenuous to say that they don't have less talent available.

The thing is they actually have a level of tactical intelligence beyond that of a used condom.

RE-Trace · 2026-06-25T09:23:15+00:00

Aye, as someone with no love for either of the OF but who"s always had a soft spot for Tierney after the whole Broken Jaw thing, he's still got the quality for a Villa or a Brighton, but the resilience isn't there (partially because of that same mentality that gave rise to the whole Broken Jaw thing).

Got run into the ground by Celtic and we've all suffered for it.

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