Thirty Seconds To Mars Creating Art With Damien Hirst And The F-Bomb

March 19, 2013

Every word in the title of Thirty Seconds To Mars new album, LOVE LUST FAITH + DREAMS, is mentioned throughout each of its 12 songs. In the case of the band’s first single, “Up In The Air,” two of the words were used: love and lust. Along with another word that is not so safe for work.

Leto, who whispered the obscenity, explained toRadio.com that the context of this particular four-lettered word is used “more as just an expression than an act,” but helps explore the sexuality that is expressed throughout their fourth album, out May 21.

But as for why they picked these four words in particular, Leto said, “[they] really sum up the record in a really pointed way. It’s a new beginning for us. It’s an entirely new chapter of our lives.”

The singer and his brother Shannon, along with guitarist Tomo Miličević, found that this new chapter left them pleasantly confused.

“Making art is interesting, sometimes you have no idea what you’re doing, or where you’re going,” Leto said. “You’re just putting one foot in front of the other and you end up somewhere, just wandering around in the wilderness blindfolded.”

Leto explained that he thought of the four-word title as the four quadrants of the album and that the inside artwork of the record will include a graph that shows how the songs are connected to each of the quarters.

The album’s cover on the other hand–Damien Hirst’s painting Isonicotinic Acid Ethyl Ester 2010 – 2011–represents the record as a whole. The British artist’s piece from his Spot series manages, with its Technicolor sensibilities, to incorporate every shade of the band’s new record.

“It’s alive with lush colors,” Leto said of the music. “It’s vibrant and full of energy.”

Thirty Seconds teased that the video for “Up In The Air” will feature more work from Hirst, but did not reveal when fans will actually get a chance to see it.

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