Massive Attack has collaborated with Tom Waits on ‘Boots on the Ground’, a track released Thursday that is clearly anti-militarist in nature and attacks Donald Trump’s administration, although they don’t name him directly.
“Who the hell are these federal assholes? Hiding in the Senate like a bloated tick,” Waits sings on a track whose video, directed by the band with visual artist thefinaleye, is a montage of images from Black Lives Matter protests or U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids.
An “intense and evocative” video clip, which portrays “a critical moment in recent U.S. history, in the context of the largest social protests in the country, marked by the rejection of ICE immigration raids, domestic militarization and the rise of authoritarianism,” says in a statement the PIAS label.
“Sitting in a room full of army posters. From coal to diamond, a vow to make it into law. They campaign by spilling as much blood as they can. Mold your world, a soldier is just clay,” continue the lyrics of a song that lasts seven minutes.
And that includes the theme sung with Waits’ deep voice, as well as several minutes in which you can only hear his breathing and even a part of absolute silence that makes you think that the song is already over.
‘Boots on the Ground’ is the British band’s first work in six years, since they released the ‘Eutopia’ EP in 2020.
“It is an honor in our career to collaborate with an artist of Tom’s magnitude, originality and integrity, but this track comes in a climate of chaos,” says the group in statements picked up by PIAS.
“Throughout the Western Hemisphere, state authoritarianism and the militarization of police forces are again merging with neo-fascist politics. Viewed within the U.S. emergency, both at home and abroad, this theme contains pulses of ruthless impulse and abandoned mind,” they add.
While Waits explains that many years ago he accepted an invitation from Massive Attack to collaborate with them.
“Back then, we sent them ‘Boots on the Ground.’ Its long delayed release never bothered me. Today, as in all the yesterdays of mankind, it guarantees that this song will never go out of style. The fiasco and foolishness of man are a feast for the flies,” Waits emphasizes.
Massive Attacks has decided “not to publish its music on Spotify, betting on a distribution model more aligned with its principles,” adds the note, which specifies that the track is available on the Play It Again Sam platform.
The single is accompanied by a vinyl format that includes, as a B-side, Waits’ ‘The Fly’, a spoken word piece that mixes art, poetry and music.
All proceeds from the sale of the vinyl edition will go to the American Civil Liberties Union and the US Immigrant Defense Project, reported Agencia EFE.
Here you can listen to Massive Attack and Tom Waits’ song against the Trump regime.
Find out more at ‘QueOnnda.com’.
