"The 2nd Law" was primarily recorded at AIR Studios in London, England and Eastwest Studios in Los Angeles, California, with additional recording taking place at Shangri La Studios in Malibu, California and Capitol Studios in Los Angeles. In an interview with "Billboard" on 18 October 2011, the band's manager Anthony Addis revealed that Muse had begun recording their sixth album in London and that he expected it to be released by October 2012. Muse bassist Chris Wolstenholme had stated in an interview with BBC Radio 1 that they had aimed to begin recording "The 2nd Law" in either September or October 2011. During the recording of the album, band frontman Matt Bellamy jokingly described the album as a "Christian gangsta rap jazz odyssey, with some ambient rebellious dubstep and face-melting metal flamenco cowboy psychedelia" on his Twitter account. In an interview with "Kerrang!" on 14 December 2011, Wolstenholme stated that the next Muse album would be "something radically different" from their prior releases. He also said that it felt as if the band were "drawing a line under a certain period" of their career with their sixth album. In another interview Chris mentioned that the band had experimented with music and sounds in particular. It was revealed via Muse's publicist Tom Kirk on his Twitter account that composer David Campbell was helping the band compose the album. In an interview in the April 2012 issue of "NME", Bellamy said that the band were set to include elements of electronic music, with influences coming from acts such as French house duo Justice and UK dance-punk group Does It Offend You, Yeah?. The music of "The 2nd Law" has been described as art rock, alternative rock, progressive rock, and electronic music. The album's first track, "Supremacy", has been compared to James Bond theme songs. "Madness", according to "NME", features influences which draw from Queen's "I Want to Break Free" and David Bowie's "Scary Monsters" album. "Panic Station", the third track, has been noted as a funk rock song and features collaborations from people who had worked on Stevie Wonder's "Superstition". It also includes explicit lyrics, making "The 2nd Law" Muse's first album to feature the Parental Advisory label. Bellamy has stated that dubstep producer Skrillex was an influence when writing one of the final two tracks on the album – "".