Muse is charging into its next era with new music and a full North American tour locked in for 2026. The Devonshire trio has released “Cryogen,” a space-bent rock track that nods to the spiraling riffs of early albums like Origin Of Symmetry and Black Holes & Revelations, as NME reports. The song is the latest preview of The Wow! Signal, the band’s tenth studio album, due June 26.
Why it matters now: Consequence frames the single as a throwback to the band’s classic-era sound, while Louder Sound calls out its “Plug In Baby”-adjacent intro and the same widescreen choruses that built Muse’s stadium reputation. Produced by live member Dan Lancaster (Bring Me The Horizon, blink-182) with additional production from Aleks von Korff, the track blends sci-fi goth and weighty breakdowns with a polished finish.
Lyrically, frontman Muse singer Matt Bellamy wraps his heartbreak in a cosmic metaphor: the beloved becomes a frozen moon of Jupiter, and the narrator a cracked interloper on the surface. “Cryogen, I can never cry again / Cryogen, I’m freezing over,” he sings, according to Louder Sound. The single follows last year’s “Unravelling” and the album-launching track “Be With You,” which the band performed live earlier this month at London’s Brixton Academy.
From The Wow! Signal to the Road
The new album’s title references one of the last century’s most mysterious interstellar signals—a 72-second radio burst detected in 1977 that appeared to come from the constellation Sagittarius and was so striking that the astronomer who found it circled “6EQUJ5” and wrote “WOW!” on the printout, as NME notes. Muse’s label says the record will explore “cosmic mystery, existential hope, and the exhilarating possibility of contact with something far greater than ourselves,” according to Louder Sound.
On the live front, NME confirms that Muse has announced a 2026 North American arena tour with Bloc Party, Portugal. The Man, and The Temper Trap. The band has already been previewing new songs in Europe, including a set at Madrid’s Mad Cool Festival where they stepped in for Kings Of Leon and delivered what NME described as an “era-spanning, revolutionary space-tacular.” Bellamy also told the London crowd at Brixton that they would “be back in November,” according to NME, signaling more UK and European dates to follow.
Why the Tour Matters in SoCal
For Southern California fans, Consequence and Louder Sound’s coverage of this classic-leaning sound lands at a good time: Muse shows two upcoming SoCal dates on the calendar—an Aug. 29, 2026 stop at North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre in Chula Vista and an Aug. 31, 2026 show at Hollywood Bowl in Hollywood. These are likely part of the broader 2026 North American run, though the tour routing and on-sale details have not yet been publicly confirmed by the band or promoters.
Editorially, the pairing of Bloc Party and Portugal. The Man with Muse makes sense for SoCal’s alt and indie rock audiences, who have reliably turned out for both bands in previous years. Consequence’s framing of “Cryogen” as a return to form suggests the setlist will lean heavily on both new material and older catalog cuts that play well in large outdoor settings—like the Bowl and Chula Vista’s amp.
What Comes Next
Between now and the Wow! Signal release date of June 26 and the 2026 tour dates, Muse is likely to drop at least one more single and video. The band has already road-tested “Cryogen” and “Be With You,” and the Brixton Academy show suggests a more intimate preview window before the full arena run begins, according to NME. As Louder Sound notes, Will Of The People in 2022 gave Muse its seventh straight chart-topper, so expectations for The Wow! Signal and its live show are high.
For SoCal fans, the key dates to watch are the North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre and Hollywood Bowl evenings in late August 2026—currently the only two local entries on the Muse calendar. If UK/European dates land in November as Bellamy hinted at Brixton, according to NME, North American routing and ticket details are likely to follow shortly thereafter.
Last updated April 25, 2026.
Sources: NME, Louder Sound, Consequence, Line of Best Fit
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