Wyldest today shares new luminous new single 'Wax Museum' - the latest glimpse of her forthcoming album 'The Universe Is Loading' - out 14th November via Hand In Hive. 'Wax Museum' arrives alongside the announcement of a new UK support tour with Marissa Nadler and follows the album's previous tasters 'Old Flame', 'All It Would Take Is A Phone Call' and 'After The Ending'.
The first song written for her new album, ‘Wax Museum’ was inspired by painter Philip Guston’s warning: “Don’t be a wax museum” - a call against stagnation and repression. Over crystalline guitars and a hazy dream-pop glow, Wyldest explores what it means to stay vulnerable and alive in a turbulent world, asking instead for openness and rawness: “Are you wanting a thrill? / Let the rain wash all over you.”
Speaking more on the release of 'Wax Museum', Wyldest said:
“To be a ‘Wax Museum,’ as Philip Guston said, is to be stagnant, lacking honesty and mimicking what already exists - and at times I find myself moving through days like that, choosing the easy road rather than the ones that require thought and action. Familiarity is comforting, but we risk becoming caricatures of ourselves, plucking the flower before it can thrive, too impatient to let it reach its potential. With so much noise and automation in the world, I wanted this song to set a precedent of being honest and present, un-numbing myself to injustice and making music I was 100% excited by.”
'Wax Museum' provides another tantalising insight into Wyldest's upcoming fourth album - her most ambitious and rewarding full length to date. Singles released so far, including the incandescent indie rock of 'Old Flame'; 'All It Would Take Is A Phone Call' - a delicate meditation on familial estrangement - and 'After The Ending' where Wyldest confronted the fragility of the human body, all point towards the work of an artist finally at peace in their own skin and exploring their art unfettered. For Wyldest, the possibilities are endless.
Wyldest's new album 'The Universe Is Loading' is out 14th November digitally and on 12" vinyl via Hand In Hive, available to pre-order here. New single 'Wax Museum' is out now. Wyldest embarks on a headline tour in support of the album, February 2026 - tickets are on sale now here.
More about The Universe Is Loading
There aren’t many records you can honestly describe as life-changing, but Wyldest’s fourth album 'The Universe Is Loading' feels precisely that. Her most expansive body of work yet, it grapples with grief, transformation and the systems - both personal and political - that attempt to contain us. Pairing existential probing with intensely intimate reflections, the album presents an apocalyptic dreamworld inspired by sci-fi, gothic horror and romance, while drawing strength from the natural world’s ability to adapt and endure. The result is a portrait of an artist born anew.
Across its 11 tracks, Zoë Mead (aka Wyldest) pours herself into her music more fully than ever before, with songs about illness ('After The Ending'), estrangement ('All It Would Take Is A Phone Call'), and resilience ('Wax Museum', 'Old Flame'). It’s a universe built from contradictions: dystopian yet hopeful, solitary yet deeply connected to the lives of others.
Written in the shadow of medical uncertainty and global violence, the album draws equally from the gothic horror of authors like Brontë and Angela Carter, as well as surrealist films and action/adventure video games such as The Last of Us, Zelda, and Skyrim. It also spirals into space-theory rabbit holes - parallel universes, AI, simulation theory - before grounding itself in something far more human, as she explains:
"It's ultimately an intense realisation that life and love doesn’t always go as planned and sometimes we need to take time to make sense and peace within the chaos."
Continuing her evolution as a vital and independent voice in alternative music - unafraid to examine uncomfortable truths through a lens of compassion and clarity, 'The Universe Is Loading' is a resolute and quietly magisterial step forward from an artist known for turning vulnerability into strength, and private feeling into shared catharsis.
To date, Wyldest (aka Zoë Mead) has released three full-length albums, her 2019 debut 'Dream Chaos', 2021's 'Monthly Friend', and 2022's 'Feed The Flowers Nightmares' - drawing universal acclaim from BBC 6 Music, The i, The Telegraph, DIY, Dork, CLASH, The Line of Best Fit, Our Culture, Nothing But Hope And Passion, GoldFlakePaint, amongst others.
LIVE DATES
2025
OCTOBER
30 The Tin Music and Arts, Coventry (supporting Marissa Nadler)
31 St Mathias Church, London (supporting Marissa Nadler)
NOVEMBER
01 DUST, Brighton (supporting Marissa Nadler)
02 Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff (supporting Marissa Nadler)
03 Papillon, Southampton (supporting Marissa Nadler)
2026
FEBRUARY
05 Folklore, Brighton
07 The Waiting Room, London
12 Night & Day, Manchester
13 The Victoria, Birmingham
18 Three Tanners Bank, North Shields
20 PJ Molloys, Dunfermline
21 Cafe Indiependent, Scunthorpe
23 St Mary's, Chester
26 Voodoo Daddy's, Norwich
MARCH
13 Skipton Town Hall, Skipton