Muse share anti-bully anthem Won’t Stand Down, reveal UK summer festival headline slot

Muse have shared a new single, Won’t Stand Down, their first new music since the release of 2018‘s Simulation Theory album.

Self-produced by the Devon trio and mixed by Dan Lancaster (Bring Me The Horizon, Enter Shikari), the riff-heavy Won’t Stand Down is described by the band’s ‘people’ as “an arena-ready anthem of controlled chaos, with heavy guitars and industrial-like distortions amplifying Matt Bellamy's striking lyrics about taking one's power back.”

Frontman Bellamy says, “Won’t Stand Down is a song about standing your ground against bullies, whether that be on the playground, at work or anywhere. Protecting yourself from coercion and sociopathic manipulation and to face adversity with strength, confidence and aggression.”

Shot in Kiev, Ukraine, and directed by Jared Hogan (girl in red), the song’s video features a fragile, mysterious figure which siphons the collective energy of a dark army to transmute into an augmented being.

Watch it below.

Matt Bellamy’s band have also announced an extensive European festival run for the summer, including a headline appearance at the Isle Of Wight festival on June 19.

The trio will play:

Jun 03: Rock AM, GER
Jun 05: Rock Im Park, GER
Jun 09: Nova Rock Festival, AUS
Jun 11: Tempelhof Sounds, GER
Jun 17: Firenze Rocks, ITA
Jun 19: Isle of Wight Festival, ENG
Jun 21: VOLT Festival, HUN
Jun 24: Tinderbox Festival, DEN
Jun 26: Mallorca Live, SPA
Jun 29: Ejekt Festival, GRE

Jul 02: OpenAir, SWI
Jul 03: Les Eurockéennes De Belfort, FRA
Jul 06: Beauregard Festival, FRA
Jul 08: Mad Cool Festival, SPA
Jul 10: Les Déferlantes Festival, FRA

No release date has yet been set for the Devon trio’s ninth album, though their summer touring itinerary would suggest it will be released before June.

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.