by Stefania Clerici
From the WOW! Signal to Spielberg's UFOs: when the unknown becomes rock
There is something compelling about mysteries that no one can explain. In 1977, the Big Ear radio telescope in Ohio picked up an anomalous transmission from deep space. It lasted just 72 seconds, but it was so powerful and unusual that it prompted astronomer Jerry Ehman to circle the data and write down a single word next to it: “Wow!”. From that moment on WOW! Signal has entered legend, becoming one of the most famous symbols of the search for extraterrestrial life.
It is from this cosmic enigma that he is born The Wow! SignalMuse's tenth album, a work that looks to the sky with the same awe that has fueled decades of pop culture. The imagination inevitably recalls Steven Spielberg and his science fiction masterpieces, from Close Encounters of the Third Kind to ETpassing through that cinematic tradition that uses aliens to actually talk about ourselves. In a historical moment in which UFOs, inexplicable phenomena and new sci-fi productions have returned to the center of collective attention, Matt Bellamy finds the perfect terrain to build the most coherent and fascinating concept of the band's recent career.
The Wow! Signal: the return of the most visionary Muse
After years in which Muse alternated brilliant intuitions with increasingly gigantic productions, The Wow! Signal marks a return to the balance between entertainment and inspiration. The international press is almost unanimous in considering it one of the band's best works in a long time: NME he even calls it “the best Muse album of the last twenty years”, while Kerrang! it's about a creative album, free and capable of rekindling the cosmic wonder that has always run through the group's DNA.
The news is that this time science fiction is not just an aesthetic framework. Space, alien theories and the mystery of WOW! Signal become the language through which Bellamy tackles deeply human themes: emotional distance, loss, the need for connection and the search for answers in an increasingly noisy world but paradoxically incapable of communicating.
The individuals who prepared the contact
The album doesn't come from nowhere. In recent months Muse have released a series of clues which today take on a much clearer meaning within the concept.
The first real message was “Unravelling”a song that mixes electronics, industrial tension and aggressive guitars, almost representing the moment in which an unknown transmission emerges from the background noise of the universe. It is the track that anticipated the new sound direction of the band, projecting it towards more contemporary territories without giving up its identity.
With “Be With You”the story becomes more emotional. The single, chosen as the main song of the project, transforms the cosmic journey into a sentimental metaphor: behind the search for a distant civilization lies the universal desire to find someone to share your journey with.
Among the most exhilarating moments stands out “Cryogen”already considered by many fans to be one of the best compositions of recent years. The riff openly invokes the energy of Plug In Baby and of the time Origin of Symmetrybut modern production avoids any nostalgia effect. It is the perfect bridge between Muse's glorious past and their new creative phase.
However, what dominates the entire story is “The Dark Forest”the monumental overture to the album inspired by the famous theory according to which intelligent civilizations in the universe would prefer to hide for fear of being destroyed. A song that perfectly summarizes the soul of the album: cosmic philosophy, existential tension and sonic gigantism in pure Muse style.
A concept album that looks to the stars to talk about us
The sensation, listening The Wow! Signalis to find a band that has recovered the taste of wonder. The influences of the great classics of their catalog – from Origin of Symmetry to Black Holes and Revelations – are evident, but this is not a nostalgic operation. Rather, Muse seem to have rediscovered the ability to use the language of science fiction to talk about universal questions.
Like the protagonists of a Spielberg film who observe the sky looking for an answer, Bellamy and his companions also launch their signal into the unknown. And just as happened with the mysterious impulse detected in 1977, the fascination lies not so much in the response as in the question itself.
Because in the end The Wow! Signal it's not really about aliens. Speaks of the desire to be heard, to find a connection and to discover that, somewhere in the universe, someone is trying to communicate with us. And perhaps this is precisely what makes Muse's new album their most engaging and successful work in recent years.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
