Wyldest releases new album 'The Universe Is Loading', out NOW on Hand In Hive
Wyldest releases new album
'The Universe Is Loading'
Out now via Hand In Hive
Listen / stream HERE
Wyldest’s new album The Universe Is Loading blends sci-fi dreamworlds, gothic romance and dystopian indie-rock to explore grief, transformation and the parallel universes we build to survive. Intimate yet expansive, it's a portrait of an artist rebuilding herself in real time
Watch video for focus single 'Foolish World' HERE
★★★★
"Wyldest’s most immersive work to date...An impressive return."
The Skinny
"A special talent...beautifully etched"
CLASH Magazine
"Crashing, incandescent indie rock"
Whynow
"Stirring new song"
Our Culture
WATCH 'Foolish World' video:
https://youtu.be/5IVOyJR-zfg
LISTEN 'The Universe Is Loading' album:
https://orcd.co/the-universe-is-loading
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(Out now, released 14th November on Hand In Hive)
About 'The Universe Is Loading' (Full Album Biography Here)
There aren’t many records you can honestly describe as life-changing, but Wyldest’s fourth album 'The Universe Is Loading' feels precisely that. Out today (14 November) via UK tastemaker label Hand In Hive, the album is her most expansive body of work yet.
An album of rare scope and intensity, 'The Universe Is Loading' is the product of a period of momentous personal upheaval, examining the world on both a macro and micro level. Grappling with grief, illness ('After The Ending'), estrangement ('All It Would Take Is A Phone Calll') and resilience ('Wax Museum', 'Old Flame'), it pairs sci-fi dreamworlds and gothic atmospherics with shimmering, dystopian indie-rock, drawing as much from Angela Carter, Brontë and surrealist cinema as it does from Zoë’s love of gaming (The Last of Us, Zelda, Skyrim).
Across its 11 tracks, Zoë Mead (aka Wyldest) pours herself into her music more fully than ever before. It’s a universe built from contradictions, spiralling 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."
Leading the release is focus single 'Foolish World', accompanied by a striking new video filmed at the nature reserve Cliff Pools in Kent. Zoë explains:
"I wrote Foolish World whilst re-reading Wuthering Heights last summer whilst I walked around a place called Cliff Pools in Kent (where I ended up shooting the video). It’s now an industrial wasteland, surrounded in beautiful blue water, that is now too toxic to swim in. This means humans have now left it alone and nature is now claiming it back and thriving there. Being within this toxic natural wonderland whilst reading gothic romance novels resulted in this breakup song – two people parting in hopes they may thrive elsewhere - like Cathy and Heathcliff. This is a bittersweet love song about moving on and leaving one foolish world for another - we all live through a series of chapters and worlds, so I hope it's relatable to many."
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.
Wyldest's new album 'The Universe Is Loading' is out now, digitally and on 12" vinyl via Hand In Hive, available to purchase here. Wyldest embarks on a headline tour in support of the album, February 2026 - tickets are on sale now here.
LIVE DATES
2026
FEBRUARY
05 Folklore, Brighton
07 The Waiting Room, London
12 Night & Day, Manchester
13 The Victoria, Birmingham
18 Three Tanners Bank, North Shields
19 1990, Glasgow
20 PJ Molloys, Dunfermline
21 Cafe Indiependent, Scunthorpe
23 St Mary's, Chester
26 Voodoo Daddy's, Norwich
MARCH
13 Skipton Town Hall, Skipton
The Universe Is Loading - Track list
1. Collide
2. After The Ending
3. All It Would Take Is A Phone Call
4. Old Flame
5. Foolish World
6. Dolgoch
7. The Whole World Cries
8. Tongue Tied
9. Wax Museum
10. Enough For Me
11. Foxglove Will Grow
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Follow Wyldest
Instagram: @wyldest
TikTok: @wyldestmusic
X/Twitter: @wyldest
YouTube: @wyldestmusic
