Muse have revealed that they have some ambitious plans for their 2026 UK and European tour, including “trying to build a spaceship”.
The Devon space-rock icons released their 10th album ‘The Wow!’ Signal’ last week (Friday June 26) and are now gearing up for an arena tour across the UK and Europe this winter.
Speaking to NME about the inspiration behind the new LP – which sees the trio tackle more personal subject matter compared to their previous releases – frontman Matt Bellamy shared their vision for the upcoming live shows, and explained that they were looking into making a “spaceship” in time for the winter arena run
“We’re trying to build a spaceship – as you do,” he told us. “The quote came in and it’s more expensive than some of these houses [in Primrose Hill], and that’s saying something around here.”
“We’re trying to work with that, build a spaceship, do some new stuff with lasers that’s never been done before, and yeah, it will be a classic,” the frontman added. “It’s going to be more in the space, sci-fi realm, which I think is cool for us.”
The space theme is in keeping with the futuristic, boundary-pushing approach Muse have always incorporated in their music, and the trio are no strangers to pulling out all the stops at their live shows – regularly going all-out with pyrotechnics, lasers, robots, drones, dancers and captivating visual displays.
The idea to build a “spaceship” for the 2026 dates is also in keeping with the title of the new album too – with it being named after one of the most compelling interstellar mysteries of the last century: a powerful, unexplained 72-second radio burst detected in 1977, originating from the constellation Sagittarius. Its bandwidth and intensity suggested a possible extraterrestrial source.
Asked further about what the plans for their “spaceship” look like, Bellamy told NME that they were “trying to make it fly”, but realistically it may not be possible due to financial constraints.
“I don’t think it will,” he said. “That’s the thing that costs more than a house, but it will be something cool, I promise.”
Before the UK tour kicks off with two nights in Manchester this November, Muse will be embarking on a North American headline tour later this week, with support coming from Bloc Party, Portugal. The Man and The Temper Trap.
Speaking to NME about whether or not their North American shows this summer will be an indication of what UK and European fans can expect later this year, Bellamy said that the US dates will be more stripped back to better fit with the amphitheatres they’ve booked.
“It’s the only viable summer tour in America that’s outdoors unless you’re at stadium level, which we’re not in the US,” he said. “It’s in between arena and stadium size, but the issue is you can’t do the craziest production.”
The singer continued: “It’ll be a similar production to what we used last summer, but with a few step-ups and a few customisations for this show. But when we come back to the UK in November, that’ll be a brand new really cool production.”
The North American tour begins on Thursday (July 2) with a slot at Summerfest in Milwaukee, and continues throughout July and August with shows in Toronto, Dallas, Los Angeles and more. Visit here for tickets to UK dates and here for international tickets.
As well as discussing the upcoming tour in the latest NME interview, Bellamy also opened up about how the album saw him confront his inner turmoil after a period of “personal struggles”. He also spoke about the words of wisdom he got from Coldplay’s Chris Martin and The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger, as well as how he believes Muse have still “got another good 10 years left in us”. Read it in full here.
‘The Wow!’ Signal’ was given a glowing four-star review from NME and praised as the trio’s “best album in 20 years”
“In rekindling their own purpose, the Teignmouth trio have delivered undoubtedly their most consistent and satisfying album since ‘Black Holes & Revelations’ – doubling up as either a knowing gift to the fans or at least a response to any concerns that Muse had long disappeared too far up their own supermassive blackholes,” it read. “Look up to the sky with a sigh of relief or a simple ‘wow’.”
