Written in the wake of his split from model, actress and mother of two of his children Elle Evans, Bellamy faced a profound unknown he\u2019d not felt in decades, and so drew on the feelings and \u2013 consciously or not \u2013 the sounds of the band\u2019s earlier days. \u2018The Wow! Signal\u2019 opener \u2018The Dark Forest\u2019 feels like a blockbuster sequel to \u2018Black Holes & Revelations<\/a>\u2019\u2019 Ennio Morricone space Western rocker \u2018Knights Of Cydonia\u2019, as the band gallop above swooping strings as Bellamy earnestly delivers the album\u2019s M.O. to \u201claunch a pulse out into the abyss, reach out a hand to the lonely\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The riff to \u2018Cryogen\u2019 almost sounds like Bellamy\u2019s fingers are reaching to play \u2018Plug In Baby\u2019 before wandering around the fretboard, complete with an \u2018Absolution<\/a>\u2019-sized chorus and a metal-edged breakdown from their latter day playbook. Meanwhile, \u2018Hexagons\u2019 is to be filed alongside \u2018Citizen Erased\u2019 and \u2018Butterflies And Hurricanes\u2019 as one of Muse\u2019s finest modern existential rock epics, as the frontman looks for healing and connection, \u201chaunted by futures I can\u2019t avoid\u201d.<\/p>\n There are pleasant shades of difference. The terribly titled \u2018Shimmering Scars\u2019 is a Muse Bond theme but a little more subtle and noir as a frail and broken Bellamy asks \u201cwas I not enough?\u201d, while \u2018The Sickness In You And I\u2019 marries Prince<\/a> to Metallica<\/a> with a lot more harmony than you\u2019d imagine, lifted by an almighty yearning pop chorus.<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s potential album highlight \u2018Hush\u2019. When fans heard it was going to feature a guest vocal from Ellie Goulding<\/a> and a co-write from Hurts<\/a>\u2018 Theo Hutchcraft, they may have assumed some EDM-tinged pop balladry rather than this menacing almost Billie Eilish<\/a>-esque electro-rock-meets-Eurovision rager that calls to \u201cforget the world together, choke out the noise forever\u201d. \u2018Space Debris\u2019 might be the most Muse song title going, but they\u2019ve not allowed quite as much breathing space or grace as this since \u2018Endlessly\u2019 on \u2018Absolution\u2019 as an unguarded Bellamy mourns love drifting away.<\/p>\n The missteps are minor. Following in the chrome platform boot footsteps of \u2018Supermassive Blackhole\u2019 and \u2018Panic Station\u2019, the divisive and questionable Daft Punk<\/a>-made-human disco funk of \u2018Nightshift Superstar\u2019 (a tight-knit triumph from bassist Chris Wolstenholme and drummer Dom Howard) adds some levity and bombast in the first half, while the electro-pop warble of \u2018Be With You\u2019 is rather on the saccharine side \u2013 tailor-made for a stadium fireworks and confetti moment \u2013 but makes a lot more sense in the flow of the record.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n As we heard on the lean launch single \u2018Unravelling\u2019, you can\u2019t help but feel that Muse have greatly benefitted from the guidance and production of Dan Lancaster (their live keys player and slick metal wunderkind who sharpened up the cyberpunk punch of Bring Me The Horizon<\/a>\u2019s \u2018Nex Gen<\/a>\u2019). It\u2019s still bonkers of course, but more focussed than their last few efforts. Away from the AI fictions of \u2018Simulation Theory<\/a>\u2019 and jaded soapboxing of \u2018Will Of The People\u2019<\/a>, \u2018The Wow! Signal\u2019 feels human and authentic.<\/p>\n In rekindling their own purpose, the Teignmouth trio have delivered undoubtedly their most consistent and satisfying album since \u2018Black Holes & Revelations\u2019 \u2013 doubling up as either a knowing gift to the fans or at least a response to any concerns that Muse had long disappeared too far up their own supermassive blackholes. Look up to the sky with a sigh of relief or a simple \u2018wow\u2019.<\/p>\n Details<\/p>\n Record label: Warner\/Helium-3![\"Muse](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MuseTheWOWSignal-album-cover-art-work.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nRelease date: June 26, 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Here comes the science bit, concentrate: all you space nerds out there will be well aware that \u2018the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":657298,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[96,128,3584,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-657297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-rock","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=657297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657297\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/657298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=657297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=657297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=657297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}