7 New Albums Out Today From Muse, Temples, Willow Avalon & More

Muse — Matt Bellamy, Dominic Howard and Chris Wolstenholme — released their 10th studio album, The Wow! Signal, through Warner Records. The follow-up to 2022’s Will Of The People takes its title from a famous extraterrestrial signal. Teaming with Sent Into Space, Muse premiered the single “Be With You,” in space by launching “a specially-designed tablet 33km up into the atmosphere to premiere the ‘Be With You’ video.” The album’s title references “a powerful 72-second radio burst detected in 1977 originating from the constellation Sagittarius with a bandwidth and intensity that suggested a possible extraterrestrial source.” The astronomer who observed the event wrote “Wow!” on the readout next to the sequence dubbed “6EQUJ5.” It has more widely become known as “The Wow! Signal.”

Temples issued their fifth album, BLISS, through V2 Records. The follow-up to the English psychedelic rock band’s 2023 Sean Ono Lennon-produced album Exotico finds Temples breaking new sonic ground. The record ventures into electronic territory while staying true to the band’s core DNA, pairing euphoric and melancholic late-’90s dance melodies with psych-tinged riffs and looping textures, while “usher[ing] in a new chapter for Temples, showcasing their most experimental, polished and confident work to date.”

“We’ve just done exactly what we want to do in a purely selfish way, and that becomes not selfish when people connect with it,” frontman James Bagshawsaid in a statement, adding “[p]eople should throw out whatever they thought we were – this is what we are.”

Pink Pocket Pistol is the new album from Willow Avalon, released today through Atlantic Outpost/Assemble Sound. The Georgia-born, Nashville-based Avalon’s debut album, Southern Belle Raisin’ Hell, was issued in January 2025. Her single, “Easy On The Eyes,” released earlier this year, is among the 14 tracks making up Pink Pocket Pistol. Fellow singer-songwriters Jason Isbell and Kaitlin Butts, and the group Midland, each contributed to separate tracks.

“Pink Pocket Pistol is a mix of the lyricism and sassy storylines I’ve continuously written, with more darkness, mystery and a ‘60s country feel,” Avalon stated. “I went in with an idea in my head, and we walked out a week later with it fully executed. Every single person in the room was on the exact same page. It felt wonderful hearing the record out of speakers – after really, intensive, hard work – exactly what I heard in my head.”

French producer and singer-songwriter Madeon (Hugo Leclercq) returns with his third studio album, Victory, available today through Mom+Pop. The follow-up to 2019’s Grammy-nominated Good Faith features Erick the Architect of Flatbush Zombies on “Super Platinum,” Slayyyter on “Fire Away” and Sam Gellaitry on “Red Jacket.” Bleachers’ guitarist Mikey Freedom Hart also appears on Victory.

Veteran Americana singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell released Then Again via New West Records. Largely recorded around 2006 at Treasure Isle Studios in Nashville and shelved for nearly two decades, the album was produced by Crowell and Steuart Smith with additional production by Dan Knobler. The long-awaited 10-track collection features guest appearances from the late Guy Clark, as well as Lyle Lovett, Benmont Tench, Kieran Goss, Annie Kinsella and Chely Wright. The album also includes two newly recorded tracks: “If I Could Speak to Leonard,” a tribute to the late Leonard Cohen, and “Go Light a Candle,” the latter featuring longtime collaborator Emmylou Harris, along with Lera Lynn.

“I guess you could call it a lost album,” Crowell said. “I stumbled upon it in my vault at home. I’d forgotten about it completely. I heard a record I wasn’t sick of. I was no longer sick of myself. That’s what 20 years will do for you.”

British singer-songwriter Beth Orton shared her eighth studio album, The Ground Above, through Partisan Records. As with 2022’s Weather Alive, Orton self-produced the record, working with Shahzad Ismaily, Sam Beste of Vernon Spring, Chris Vatalaro, Vishal Nayak, Christos Stylianides, Tom Herbert, Dave Okumu and others, including Nick Hakim contributing to “Cigarette Curls.” The album is “structured in two halves, with the first moving through more fragmented, searching terrain, and the second opening into warmer, more expansive melodic forms.”

Singer-songwriter Andrew Sa put out his debut album, American Rough, via Bloodshot Records. Produced by H.C. McEntire and co-produced and engineered by Missy Thangs, the Chicago-based Sa recorded primarily at Fidelitorium in Kernersville, North Carolina, with additional tracking at Fox Hall in Chicago. The album features Luke Norton (piano, guitar), Casey Toll (bass), TJ Maiani (drums), Spencer Tweedy (drums and percussion), Nick Broste (trombone), Hunter Diamond (saxophone), Ivan Pyzow (trumpet), Allyn Love (pedal steel guitar) and Macie Stewart (violin), with vocalist Rosali contributing harmonies on “Where It Lands.” Lead single “Lavender Cowboy” is a tribute to the late Patrick Haggerty, pioneer of gay country music and frontman of Lavender Country, whom Sa counted as a friend and mentor.

“He would say oftentimes, ‘I’m the stepping stone for you to ascend,’” Sa said of Haggerty.