The Darkness have shared their 80s-inspired theme song to the new Masters Of The Universe movie – give it a listen below.
Starring Bottoms actor Nicholas Galitzine as Adam Glenn/He-Man, 30 Seconds To Mars frontman Jared Leto as Skeletor, and Idris Elba as Man-at-Arms, the film – based on the ’80s animated TV series – will hit cinemas on June 5 – now complete with a bombastic theme courtesy of the UK glam-rock veterans.
“When He-Man asked whether we could provide some music for his forthcoming biopic Masters of the Universe, we dusted off our trusty loincloths, assembled in the courtyard of Castle Darkness and bellowed in unison, ‘WE HAVE THE POWER’,” the band said of the track.
“Also, Brian May was there.” The Queen guitarist plays a guitar solo in ‘Eternia’ for the soundtrack, with the title a nod to the fantasy planet that serves as the film’s main setting.
‘Masters of the Universe’ was written by Justin and Dan Hawkins – who also produced and mixed the track – alongside Daniel Pemberton, who composed the upcoming film’s soundtrack.
Later this year, The Darkness are set to embark on a big UK arena tour in support of their 2025 album ‘Dreams On Toast’.
The dates follow their huge support slot at Iron Maiden‘s Knebworth Park gig on July 11, and, speaking to NME about the upcoming dates late last year, Justin’s brother and bandmate, Dan Hawkins, said: “Even close friends of mine who come to every London show sigh if the tour is in spring or early autumn or whatever, because they consider coming to see The Darkness play in December as part of their Christmas build-up.
“Those are my best friends saying that, and not necessarily the biggest Darkness fans.”
He continued: “We’re just part of people’s festive period, and we’ve got quite a few Christmas songs. As you’ve seen today, we can break into pretty much any one… and do a pretty bad job!”
He also touched on courting a new generation of fans, which he said they had been “building and building” on since since reuniting in 2011.
“We had quite a tough challenge convincing people that we were going to be around for a while,” he told us. “We’re operating on pretty much a cult fanbase. The transient pop fans that came and screamed at the early gigs and then left when they realised we were actually a rock band went quite early doors, then we split up.
“When we got back together, we had to really develop a hardcore fanbase again. We had it initially to the point where we could sell out The Astoria as an unsigned band, then we kind of just fucking blew it all and had to start again. It’s taken us a while to release quality stuff, and get better and better as far as being a rock band that isn’t just peddling the same old shit every time.
“As you’ve just heard, our fans aren’t shouting for the hits – they want the album tracks, and not the ones we were playing 20 years ago. We’re a different beast now.”