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The new track has sent ripples of excitement throughout their fan base and sees the trio take on a different sound than previously heard. “Won’t Stand Down” sees the group return to their much heavier roots whilst introducing elements from the industrial genre. The group’s new single serves as an anti-bullying anthem and utilises meaningful lyrics to cement its message. The British rockers’ back catalogue is full of powerful soundscapes, and the group’s newest single is no different despite the heavier approach heard.

The new single was produced by the group and mixed by Dan Lancaster and is the first taste of the band’s new material since their 2018 album Simulation Theory. The track has been taken from the group’s untitled ninth studio album, details concerning the new album are yet to be announced. The single was teased through social media before its release, on Christmas day 2021 Bellamy presented a short clip within an Instagram live, the official announcement of the single’s release was made on 7th January 2022.

The new release was also accompanied by a beautiful music video, featuring “a fragile, mysterious figure that siphons the collective energy of a dark army to transmute into an augmented being”. The track’s themes and message are interpreted through the music video’s dark imagery and poignant visuals. The single’s video was directed by award-winning filmmaker Jared Hogan and was shot in Ukraine.

Muse have remained a staple of rock music since their initial releases in the late ’90s and early ’00s, the group became known for their use of experimental techniques and progressive sound. The Devon formed trio receive praise for their use of influences taken from various genres of music, often incorporating unusual instrumentation with traditional instruments. Unsurprisingly the group have sired many accolades throughout their long career, having won two Grammy awards for their albums The Resistance and Drones.

Last September it was confirmed that Muse would be playing this year’s Isle of Wight Festival. The festival is set to return this year with its normal time slot in June, and Muses’ appearance will be the group’s first UK live show in three years. The band are also scheduled to play at various European festivals this year, including Germany’s Rock am Ring and Rock Im Park, Tempelhof Sounds and the Spanish event Mad Cool Festival.

Click here to download/stream “Won’t Stand Down“.

Based on discernible lyrics from the preview, fans are referring to the song as “Won’t Stand Down”. The snippet is just slightly less than a minute long, and features Bellamy singing the lyrics “Won’t stand down, I’m growing stronger, Won’t stand down, I’m owned no longer…Won’t stand down, you’ve used me for too long, For too long” as well as heavy, intense metalcore-esque guitar riffing.

Whilst the band are no strangers to injecting elements of heaviness into their music- one only needs to look to the likes of Supremacy, Dead Star or Yes Please to figure this out- the group has not yet made their first foray into making music that could truly fit into the vein of metal. As it would seem, this upcoming album might just change that.

Muse’s last album Simulation Theory was released in 2018, to largely favourable reviews. In a four-star review of the album, NME said: “With space-age rockabilly and EDM machine gun beats, this bizarre new album sees Muse retreat from the real world and into a ‘Tron’-style pastiche of their own adolescence.”

Whilst it is still noticeably a Muse album in its tonality, the record saw the band stepping away from the progressive and alternative rock angle of previous releases and occupying a more synth driven vein, with pounding electronic beats, side chained synth basses and flavours of 80s film scores, such as Tron and the various works of John Carpenter and Tangerine Dream. The album can be found on all streaming services, and physical media can be purchased here.

Last year, in an interview with NME, Matt Bellamy discussed the direction he wanted the band to take following Simulation Theory, saying; “I like the idea of totally resetting and going back to where we come from. As in, physically moving back to our hometown [Teignmouth, Devon] and getting back to how we used to be at square one.”

Presently, the clip from the livestream is the only snippet of any new music from the band, however Bellamy confirmed last year that writing had indeed begun.