Muse bassist Chris Wolstenholme says the band want to experiment with things that “are kind of alien” when they record their new album.

The group currently have seven songs in construction for the record, which will be the follow-up to 2006's 'Black Holes And Revelations'.

But Wolstenholme said that none of them were at the stage where they could be recorded.

“We just wanted to get started this year, just to get the ball rolling a little bit rather than just wait for a year or so doing nothing and then get in the studio, and go, what do we do now?” he told BBC 6Music.

Speaking about the direction of the new material, the bassist said: "We're looking to do new things and we'll just try and do things that are kind of alien to us, you know, and things we haven't done before 'cos that's what we find challenging about making music."

Muse's last performance of 2008 came at the V Festival in August where they headlined the dual event in Chelmsford and Staffordshire.

(by Jason Gregory)