STACK #260 June 2026

MUSIC FEATURE

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FUN FACT

LIKE WOW! Muse take us to space on their tenth studio album, their first in four years.

The Wow! Signal was also referenced in an episode of The X-Files in 1994, called Little Green Men .

M use’s eagerly awaited tenth album is out of this world – literally. The English band launched the

Ohio State University’s Big Ear radio telescope. Some believe the bandwidth and intensity suggested the existence of extraterrestrial life. When astronomer Jerry R. Ehman reviewed the data, he noted the 72-second anomaly, and wrote “Wow!” on the printout.

Muse

record by partnering with a company called Sent into Space. They propelled a special tablet 33km into the air to announce the album. The space theme relates to the title of the record: The Wow! Signal , which follows Muse’s 2022 chart-topper Will of the People . The Wow! Signal was detected on August 15, 1977, by Muse have had six Top 10 albums in Australia, including four chart-toppers. CHART FACT

The Wow! Signal by Muse is out Jun 26 via Inertia

Muse are touring North America as part of a double bill with Australia’s The Temper Trap.

AUSSIE LINK

The band says the record contains a “mix of cosmic mystery, existential hope, and the exhilarating possibility of contact with something far greater than ourselves”. The record opens with The Dark Forest and climaxes with an epic track called Space Debris . It’s quite a trip. Jeff Jenkins

THE NAME GAME

Muse had its origins at Teignmouth Community College, a school in Devon. They started out as Carnage Mayhem, before renaming the band Gothic Plague. Then they became Rocket Baby Dolls before settling on Muse.

OH MY GOD

FUN FACT

Taylor Momsen auditioned for the role of Hannah Montana, but it went to Miley Cyrus.

The Pretty Reckless unleash their fierce fifth album, Dear God .

T he title of The new album was inspired by the song Love Me , where Taylor Momsen sings about depression, obsession, Pretty Reckless’

not even for happiness, just for proof that someone sees you,” Taylor explains. After a successful acting career, Taylor decided to focus on music, saying: “Music is where I can be me. “Acting is easy. I’ve been doing it for so long and I totally love it. But you’re playing a character instead of yourself. Music is more

have had a long history with bats, from Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell to Ozzy Osbourne’s encounter with a bat in Iowa in 1982. In 2024, Taylor

CHART FACT

Dear God by The Pretty Reckless is out Jun 26 via Universal

and betrayal, and addresses God:

The Pretty Reckless have had three Top 40 albums in Australia. Their last release, 2021’s Death by Rock and Roll , was their highest charter, reaching number 15.

Momsen was bitten by a bat

Taylor Momsen

“Why won’t you answer my prayers?” she asks. “God, are you even there?” “There’s this moment in your life where you’re so hollowed out that you start bargaining with God,

The Pretty Reckless while The Pretty Reckless were on stage in Spain. After the show, she had to have a shot for rabies.

And the scary stuff doesn’t stop there. Earlier this year, while

personal because you’re writing it and you’re involved in every step of it.” Strange but true: rock acts

on the road with AC/ DC, Taylor was bitten by a poisonous spider in

Mexico. Sounds like rock ’n’ roll is Pretty Reckless... and dangerous! Jeff Jenkins

Before focusing on The Pretty Reckless, Taylor Momsen was an actor, starring in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Spy Kids 2, and Underdog . And she was Jenny in Gossip Girl .

ACTING UP

THE SUPERJESUS JET AGE (25TH ANNIVERSARY SILVER VINYL)

QLD: JUNE 5, 6 | VIC: JUNE 12, 13 | WA: JUNE 18, 19 | SA: JUNE 20 | NSW: JUNE 26, 27

TOUR DATES:

June 5 - 27, 2026

Album available at

XX JUNE 2026

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