“Won’t Stand Down”, one of Muse’s heaviest songs ever made, is their comeback single released on January 13^th, 2022.

On December 26^th, 2021, frontman Matt Bellamy revealed a snippet of the song on his Instagram stories, specifically the chorus, while driving with his son.

“Won’t Stand Down” is notable for the dramatic change in sound, stepping back from pop motifs to their heavier roots. Having taken the ‘80s aesthetic to its Weird Science extreme on 2018’s Simulation Theory, Bellamy told NME in 2020,

I like the idea of totally resetting and going back to where we come from… as in, physically moving back to our hometown and getting back to how we used to be at square one.

Lyrically, Muse take up iconic elements that characterised songs like “The Handler” and “MK Ultra”: an intimate uprising and revolution. There’s an internal and personal battle underway, where the protagonist has become the victim of a “user and abuser” situation.

As for the style, the use of heavy riffs, electronic elements, powerful falsetto vocals and harmonic minor scales can remind of Absolution and suggest vibes of the more recent album Drones.