Say what you will about Muse. No, go on. Actually do so. Their first album since Will of the People, and they seem to have willed themselves back into a spot where they aren’t chanting and chomping away at utterly miserable music. Their proposed anthems which fell on deaf ears because Matt Bellamy’s fingers are on the pulse of a cold corpse reading of the world are swept away quietly. Muse has since signalled their senses are back in working order with The Wow! Signal, an album that thankfully passes the spellchecker and alleviates the double carpal tunnel. One less press of the keyboard, no shift required for The Wow! Signal. That’s about all there is for saving graces here. Muse has not amused. Their alternative rock powers are hoisted from the political sphere, where Muse were mistaken for a football and kicked half to death, dropped now instead into space-based rock. Electric Light Orchestra had Jeff Lynne whip off his sunglasses and seemed a bit dead behind the eyes. The Wow! Signal is at least an interesting shuffle towards a return to form.
Full of surprises are Muse here with some instrumentally confident pieces. Opening track The Dark Forest may be among their very best albums. Muse brings some staggering work into place here. String sections, a heavy reliance on percussion and fully enveloping themselves in this space-age feeling. That infinite darkness proves to be a comfortable backdrop for Bellamy and the band. They’ve made a whole and satisfying rock opera in one song with The Dark Forest. It’s a staggering gear shift from the band and they just about maintain this the whole way through. A real strong first three songs is a shock. Sincerely, it is. A band like Muse can coast off their earliest hits and, after Will of the People, sounded certain they would do so. It doesn’t quite make up for Hexagons or Unravelling but at least there’s improvements in the album material.
A lot of the material here has a Chris Cornell feel to it. That’s pulled from the ether and disappears once Cryogen has ended but it has all the rock and roll sensibilities of the mid-2000s. There’s no way of making that sound all that positive, but it is. It’s nostalgia without the nasty, rose-tinted glasses. The Wow! Signal is at its best when played loud. Explosive-sounding drumming on Be With You makes up for the rather rudimentary lyrical context heard on that track. Muse doesn’t quite crack the perfect formula here but they’re trying, at the very least. The Sickness in You & I is staggering work, too. The Wow! Signal begins falling to pieces before the end as Muse fails to stick the landing with this shoddy ship, but there are signs of life on distant planets. A lot of space is full of junk and some of it makes its way on board, but it serves a purpose all the same for Muse.
Penultimate track Hush and the album closer, Space Debris, aren’t all that great, but they’re solid. There needs to be a comedown of sorts to calm an audience after four strong songs. The Wow! Signal is, compared to other efforts by Muse, an outstanding achievement. In the context of other records and the wider listening experience, it’s still pretty average. Bellamy and company brings up a great concept but never quite lands it. Take those first four songs and cling to them as best you can. What a hopeful experience that is. Whether Muse makes good on these tracks in future, be it with a considerable overhaul on stage or a further concept album, who knows? The latter suits them well and there’s signs of life across the stars that make up The Wow! Signal. Not so much a wow signal, more a well then, signal. A shame to hear it die out so soon, but at least it doesn’t fall apart.
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