Known for their unique songs and albums in the alternative rock genre, Muse, the British band from Teignmouth, has announced a new album.
Their new album, The Wow! Signal, is set to be released on June 26, 2026.
In the past, Muse has released a few albums with specific themes, as well as one concept album. Within these albums, some common themes are government oppression, virtual reality, warfare, apocalyptic worlds, and questioning authority.
Their concept album, Drones (2015), was heavily based and focused on dehumanization, drone warfare, and finding the will to fight back against injustice. Drones has arguably been the only album that was explicitly a concept album; so, The Wow! Signal will be the second explicit concept album added to Muse’s discography.
As you may know, concept albums are often based on real life events, and The Wow! Signal is no different. This album is named after a signal that was detected on August 15, 1977 by the Ohio State Radio Observatory, using the “Big Ear” radio.
Unlike the regular lines of radio energy, which each lasted ten seconds, this line of energy lasted seventy-two seconds. When Jerry Ehman looked at what the radio at Ohio State had picked up, he saw the impressive line of energy and wrote “Wow!” next to the reading.
The Wow! Signal caused a lot of speculation, with many theorizing about where this signal came from. It was obvious that a line of energy like this one could not occur naturally, so the first thought was that an extraterrestrial being was trying to contact earth. While there are a few studies explaining why the signal could have happened, there is still no official answer to where the signal came from.
When it comes to Muse creating The Wow! Signal, the name alone explains so much about what the storyline of the album, and its themes, will be. So far, there have been two singles released for the new album. On June 20, 2025, “Unravelling” was released as the first single for The Wow! Signal. The song did not come with a music video, however, the overall sound is heavy rock and metal with a mix of electronic.
The second single, “Be With You,” was released on March 19, 2026, along with a music video for the song. This song had quite a different sound compared to the first single, with it introducing a synthpop and electronic rock sound to the overall album. Not only did it introduce a different sound, but the music video for “Be With You” gave a sneak peak to what The Wow! Signal, as an album, will be about.
The “Be With You” music video started out with a quiet small town neighborhood, where our, currently nameless, main character is introduced. In the first minute and a half of the music video, our main character seems to live a boring life, but then a red light shows in the sky. She becomes curious about the light, and runs outside to check it out. As she explores and follows the light, it begins to take over the whole sky.
She runs through the town and meets up with another guy who lives there. However, it’s not fully clear as to who this new character is. They start working together to figure out what the red light is, and they find where the light is coming from. They walk towards it holding hands, and, in the final scene of the music video, the light takes them.
Since “Be With You” is the first music video of the new album, it set the scene for the album as a whole. It left some things unclear, especially what the red light is and who exactly these characters are. But, with the rest of the album still yet to be released, more of the storyline can be revealed.
Muse has been known to release around 5 to 6 singles for each of their albums, and with The Wow! Signal scheduled to release towards the end of June, this gives the band time to release about 3 or 4 more singles that could reveal more of the album’s storyline. So far, the album does seem like a great fit for Muse’s discography, especially with the band taking interest in sci-fi, the supernatural, and other themes and ideas that have appeared in past albums.
While the album is inspired by the Wow! Signal discovery, Muse has already added their own flair to the story. The signal is an actual red light, rather than a strong line of energy and it seems to be powerful enough to cause the main characters concern. With the rest of the album still on the horizon, listeners and viewers can expect to learn more about what this red light is and whether or not it is destructive.
The Wow! Signal already has an interesting storyline, despite it only having one music video out. Muse has an opportunity to release more teasers and music videos to solidify the storyline, and fans are waiting eagerly to find out more about the album. The concept of the album is very much on brand for Muse, and it will be very intriguing to see how this album will compare to previous ones.
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