30 Seconds to Mars are back (yay!) and after all the legal struggles they have been through have managed to produce another album, set for release on December 8 (here’s hoping that means NZ too.) The first single, Kings and Queens is set out like a movie and is once again the work of Bartholomew Cubbins.

I personally have been waiting a long time for this. I fall into the category of liking 30 Seconds to Mars for more than just Jared Leto. They actually produce some pretty amazing music as well as producing some fantastic videos for said music andKings and Queens is no exception (From Yesterday is one of the most expensive videos ever made clocking up a $13 mill price tag.) Although I have yet to hear it play the airwaves and it probably won’t get featured on C4 until the CD is released or some other such’n’such nonsense.

Anyway, the video for Kings and Queens has dropped and is directed by Bartholomew Cubbins – probably one of the worst kept secrets of the music industry he actually is Jared Leto, but can also be found as a character in a Dr Seuss book The 500 hats of Bartholomew Cubbins.

Titled “The Ride”, the video follows several hundred cyclists through the streets of LA, led by the band with most wearing comical attire. Breaking up the ride are scenes of the band playing atop, one would expect, a building. It has images of the California hills’ fires and a cyclist getting hit by a car, but then getting up and continuing his ride.

Also, how did they manage to shoot scenes of deserted LA street? Sure it was dark, so therefore less traffic, but come on this is LA there can’t just not be any traffic – even Auckland at 3am in the morning has traffic. I’ve just always wondered how they did it, because there must be a way.

And, thankfully, Leto has tidied himself up a bit, because his appearance in recent months has just been shocking. Shocking I tell you.

The video even clocks up an awesome 8:55 length, which you know is going to be cut once it makes it on to music channels. Do music videos really need to be this long? But this is what 30 Seconds to Mars do – From Yesterday (the full version) was 13 minutes long, I guess a million a minute. But it all adds to the listening/watching experience. Their ideas for videos are always well thought out and produced to perfection. Watchers and listeners are transfixed by the video, they don’t even realise how long one is.

I say kudos 30 Seconds to Mars. Kudos indeed.