Studies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) have been instrumental in establishing the cosmological concordance model. Exciting times are ahead with upcoming CMB experiments targeting polarisation patterns of the CMB. However, a completely new frontier in CMB science can be explored using CMB spectral distortions. These signals are created by non-equilibrium processes in the primordial plasma that cause tiny departures of the CMB energy spectrum (not to be confused with the CMB power spectra) from that of a perfect blackbody. The last precise measurements of the CMB spectrum date back to COBE/FIRAS, which established the close blackbody nature of the CMB. With modern technology, we can not only improve these measurements by several orders of magnitude, but we can also explore the full spectro-spatial structure of the CMB with CMB distortion anisotropies. These novel observables will open up unexplored regimes in our understanding of the early universe, shedding new light on standard cosmological processes and new physics and even the origin of the Hubble tension. In my talk, I will highlight some of the recent advances in distortion science with an eye on the many synergistic opportunities that have emerged.