Thirty Seconds to Mars returns with a new album that Jared Leto says will 'surprise' a lot of people

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “I really feel like it represents where we’re at as a planet, as a people,” says Jared Leto, who formed the band with his brother, Shannon. “Once we had finished every show that’s available to stream in every language — I think maybe it was around the “Tiger King” era, I’m not sure — but we decided to use that time to our advantage and get to work on a new album.” The duo stockpiled a few hundred songs and whittled them down to the final 11, from the anguished torch song "Never Not Love You" to the encouraging “Get Up Kid.” “Of course, they started off kind of dark and brooding songs about isolation and desperation. But as we started to come out of that time, the songs reflect those feelings, too, like hope and optimism.” They got help on some tracks by writer-producers Monsters & Strangerz — on “Never Not Love You” and “Lost These Days” — Ed Sheeran and Snow Patrol's Johnny McDaid — on “World On Fire” — and Dan Reynold of Imagine Dragons on "Life Is Beautiful." “I think we’ve all gotten a little more forgiving of people kind of stepping into different lanes, exploring different avenues,” he says.