The Wow! Signal (album)

In mid-2025, the bandleader, Matt Bellamy, split from his wife, the model Elle Evans.^[1] To prioritise his children,^[2] Bellamy cancelled Muse shows scheduled for February 2026 in South Africa, India, and the United Arab Emirates.^[3][1] The split influenced the writing of the album, which Bellamy wrote mostly in late 2025 "in the depths of this life-changing experience".^[1] He said The Wow! Signal may have been the easiest Muse album to make: "It would just pour out of me ... It was such a catharsis. It became a lifeline for me."^[1]

Eight tracks were produced by Dan Lancaster and two by Aleks von Korff.^[2] Lancaster has been a touring member with Muse since May 2022.^[4] After self-producing several albums, Bellamy decided to "let go of the reins a little bit". He also credited influence from the Coldplay singer, Chris Martin, who encouraged him to collaborate more.^[2] Bellamy described the band members as "control freaks" who initially disliked being given instructions, but said Lancaster pushed them in a new way to create a more "fresh" and modern sound.^[2] He likened him to a member of the band.^[2]

"Hush" is the first Muse song to feature a guest vocalist, Ellie Goulding.^[2] Goulding was working in the same studio as Muse and was invited to add vocals. Bellamy said: "We just turned it into a duet at that point. She sang it in a couple of takes and an hour and a half later we had the song."^[2]

Critics have described The Wow! Signal as alternative rock,^[5][6] space rock,^[7] progressive rock,^[5] art rock^[6] and hard rock,^[5] with elements of dance, electronic, pop and piano balladry.^[8][9] Featuring a more cohesive sound than Muse's previous two albums, Simulation Theory (2018) and Will of the People (2022), that prioritizes guitars over synths, The Wow! Signal has been regarded as a "return to form" in line with Muse's albums Origin of Symmetry (2001), Absolution (2003) and Black Holes and Revelations (2006).^[10] Rather than rehashing their previous work, Muse build upon it with electronic beats reminiscent of The 2nd Law (2012), 8-string guitars that continue the heavy metal experimentation of Will of the People, and a more orchestral-heavy sound.^[8]

Neil Z. Young of AllMusic compared its design to Will of the People, which Bellamy described as a "greatest hits album – of new songs".^[11] Young said that The Wow! Signal feels "less like a paint-by-numbers parody of Muse and more like a band extracting the best elements of their DNA and creating something entirely new".^[10] Alexis Petridis of The Guardian said it was less "bombastic and melodramatic" than their last few albums.^[7] Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone noted influence from Queen, Korn and Radiohead, combined with "seventies arena theatrics, Eighties synth-rock, Nineties alt-rock, and 2000s goth-metal".^[12] Ed Power of The Irish Times described The Wow! Signal as "a glam odyssey that fuses metal, techno, science fiction and prog rock,"^[13] while Shaun Curran of The i Paper similarly felt it spanned the "full gamut of Muse sounds".^[1]

A concept album,^[14] The Wow! Signal explores themes of "cosmic mystery" and the "possibility of contact with something far greater than ourselves".^[15] The title is derived from the 1977 narrowband radio signal reported to have suggested the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life.^[1] This is not only a metaphor for Bellamy's break-up from Evans, with him going through the five stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance) to find emotional stability as a now single father, but also artificial intelligence (AI). Bellamy said he felt AI hurts creativity, particularly in rock songwriting, but will "explain something to us that we don't understand yet".^[16]

Muse began a European festival tour on 12 June 2025, and released the single "Unravelling" on 20 June.^[23] On 19 March, 2026, Muse released "Be with You" and announced the album title and release date.^[24] Muse promoted the announcement by sending a tablet 33km above the Earth with the English aerospace company Sent Into Space.^[24]

Muse played a small show at London's Brixton Academy in April, and debuted "Cryogen". It was released as the third single on 24 April,^[25][26][27] followed by "Hexagons" on 19 May and "Nightshift Superstar" on 5 June.^[28][29] The Wow! Signal was released on 26 June 2026 through Warner Records and Helium-3.^[30] It debuted at number three on the global albums chart with 102,000 album-equivalent units in its opening week, including 97,000 from sales and 5,000 from streaming.^[31] The album opened with 21,951 units in the United States during the tracking week ending July 2, 2026, including 17,472 album sales, 111 track-equivalent albums (TEA), and 4,367 streaming-equivalent albums (SEA).^[32] In the United Kingdom, the album debuted atop the UK Albums Chart with 34,933 album-equivalent units, becoming Muse's eighth consecutive number-one album and making them the first group and second act in chart history to debut at number one with eight consecutive studio albums. The total included 14,848 CD sales, 15,256 vinyl sales, 563 cassette sales, 1,756 digital downloads, and 2,510 streaming-equivalent units.^[33]

Muse began the Wow! Signal Tour with a North American leg in July.^[34] A European arena tour is to due to begin on 12 November 2026, including two shows at the O2 Arena in London.^[35]

More information Aggregate scores, Source ...

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	6.5/10[36]
Metacritic	67/100[37]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[10]
The Arts Desk	[38]
Clash	8/10[39]
Classic Rock	[40]
The Guardian	[7]
NME	[30]
Pitchfork	4.5/10[41]
Rolling Stone	[12]
Sputnikmusic	4.5/5[42]
Under the Radar	[43]

Close

According to the review aggregator Metacritic, The Wow! Signal received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 67 out of 100 from twelve critic scores.^[37] The review aggregator Any Decent Music gave it a weighted average score of 6.5 out of 10 from fourteen critic scores.^[36]

In NME, Andrew Trendell said The Wow! Signal was Muse's most consistent and satisfying album since Black Holes and Revelations (2006). He praised Lancaster for producing a more focused album than Muse's recent albums, saying it was "still bonkers" but felt "human and authentic".^[30] The Guardian critic Alexis Petridis wrote: "There's something curiously admirable about its commitment to its utterly preposterous bit, its refusal to bow to any notion of maturity or good taste and instead double down in its own world. If you wouldn't want to live there all time, a visit is never boring."^[7] In AllMusic, Neil Z Young wrote that The Wow! Signal was "a seamlessly executed and proudly over-the-top experience, getting Muse back on track with a catalogue highlight that's a lot more vital and fun than their preceding few offerings".^[10]

Blabbermouth.net wrote: "The album is great because it trusts the songs and lets them breathe. Instead of going for another reinvention, the band relies on what it has always done best: writing big, memorable tracks that stick long after the final note. Sometimes the smartest move isn't change. It's remembering why people showed up in the first place."^[44] Sputnikmusic wrote that "Muse have managed to not only recapture their spark, but also to succeed on so many different fronts. It feels like a career summation in the best way possible, featuring blistering rockers, elaborate guitar solos, synthy/spaced-out atmospheres, groove-laden pop tracks, poignant personal moments ... and brilliantly catchy melodies front-to-end."^[42] In Clash, Luke Winstanley wrote: "For a long time, it felt like Muse would be one of those acts frozen in a seemingly never-ending cycle, unable to recapture their early magic. The Wow! Signal not only sees them break that purgatorial cycle, but suggests that more greatness is on the way."^[39]

In Rolling Stone, Jon Dolan wrote that "as is often the case with this ostentatiously bombastic UK band, their music won't blow your mind so much as beat it into numb submission". He praised the more restrained final track, "Space Debris", as "proof that it'd be OK if Muse kept things a little less intense. Of course, if they did, they wouldn't be Muse."^[12] Liam Inscoe-Jones of Pitchfork considered the album "too sincere to have fun and too obnoxious to take seriously ... Expecting subtlety from Muse may seem futile, but the subject matter—be it space or heartbreak—demands it."^[41]

Credits are adapted from Tidal.^[46]