Muse's new album is influenced by U2.

The band supported the Elevation group on their 360° Tour in 2011 and the experience inspired them when it came to recording their new album The 2nd Law.

Frontman Matt Bellamy told Classic Rock magazine: "We toured with U2 last year in South America. And there's definitely a little bit of influence come on to this album, a little bit of [1991 album] Achtung Baby here and there."

While they were recording The 2nd Law Bellamy — who is joined in the group by Chris Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard — tweeted it would be "a Christian gangsta rap jazz odyssey with some ambient rebellious dubstep," and while it was sent in jest, he hasn't ruled out pursuing a rap direction in the future.

He told the magazine: "That tweet I sent was more like a joke. There's definitely no Christian music on this album. Gangsta rap... I think that's the one genre we can never really go near, but you never know. Dom's yet to write a song, so who knows, he may come up with some gangsta rap on the next album.

"It's a very diverse album. And every song has been produced very specifically and differently to whatever is best for the song. I think it's definitely our most diverse album."