Trip-hop stalwarts Massive Attack have unleashed a new single, “Boots on the Ground,” featuring Tom Waits.
Sounding as gruff as ever but with more bite, Waits sings over an ominous production — “We trim your hedges/ We fight your wars/ Wait in the trenches/ And we fuck ’til we’re sore” — before repeating “boots on the ground” in a song that’s filled with social commentary.
The partnership between the two acts has been years in the making, per Tom Waits. “One day many years ago I accepted an invitation from Massive Attack to collaborate,” Waits explained in a press release. “Way back then, we sent them ‘Boots on the Ground.’ Their long release delay never worried me. Today, as in all of mankind’s yesterdays, guarantees this song will never go out of style. Man’s fiasco folly is a feast for the flies. Hence, the B-side of Massive Attack’s upcoming 12-inch ‘The Fly’ features my appreciation for the winged nuisance.”
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All profits from the “Boots on the Ground” / “They Fly” vinyl will be donated to the American Civil Liberties Union and the US Immigrant Defense Project.
The single is accompanied by a film created by Massive Attack, working with photo artist thefinaleye. Described as “a high-intensity and deeply moving montage,” the film portrays the “momentous American epoch yet to be named.”
“It’s a career honour to collaborate with an artist of the magnitude, originality and integrity of Tom, but this track is arriving in an atmosphere of chaos,” Massive Attack said in a statement. “Across the western hemisphere, state authoritarianism and the militarisation of police forces are fusing again with neo-fascist politics. Seen within the American emergency, at home and overseas, this track contains pulses of callous impulse and abandoned mind.”
While the song is deeply relevant, don’t expect to see it on Spotify anytime soon. Massive Attack announced they were pulling their music from the streaming service in 2025, citing CEO Daniel Ek’s leadership of the AI military technology company Helsing.
Waits was last featured on a song in 2018, singing for guitarist Marc Ribot’s version of the Italian anti-fascist folksong “Bella Ciao.” Prior to that, Waits’ most recent original work came in 2011, with his album Bad As Me.
Tom Waits and his wife, songwriter Kathleen Brennan, are the subject of a tribute album due out May 29th. Waits will also be featured as a performer on 20th Century Paddy – The Songs of Shane MacGowan, a tribute to the late Pogues frontman, which is set to be released in November.