Pias news – Massive Attack x Tom Waits release ‘boots on the ground’
MASSIVE ATTACK & TOM WAITS RELEASE "BOOTS ON THE GROUND"

27.05.2026 — VEIKKAUS ARENA, HELSINKI (FI)

30.05.2026 — DALHALLA, RÄTTVIK (SE)

01.06.2026 — ROYAL ARENA, COPENHAGEN (DK)

04.06.2026 — PRIMAVERA SOUND*, BARCELONA (ES)

07.06.2026 — ZITADELLE, BERLIN (DE)

08.06.2026 — FOREST NATIONAL, BRUSSELS (BE) SOLD OUT

26.07.2026 — FUJI ROCK FESTIVAL*, NIIGATA (JP)

Massive Attack and Tom Waits today release a new collaboration Boots on the Ground, with an exclusive to vinyl B-side provided by Waits – a droll and sardonic spoken word piece entitled The Fly. This new track marks the first release of highly anticipated new Massive Attack material.

The band also shares an accompanying film, working with enigmatic US photo artist thefinaleye. This evocative, high-intensity montage portrays a momentous American epoch that is yet to be named, and comes in the aftermath of the largest public protests in American history – focused on opposition to ICE raids, the militarisation of domestic forces, and state authoritarianism.

Alongside the film and track release, on Friday April 17th, Massive Attack will publish an exclusive spoken word reflection on the themes of the work from novelist Omar El Akkad, author of the novels "American War" and "What Strange Paradise", and nonfiction masterpiece "One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This."

Boots on the Ground is the first Massive Attack music distributed under a Spotify exemption policy. Further releases are scheduled prior and subsequent to the band's run of live performances, including their forthcoming European tour and summer festival headlines

Massive Attack will be donating all profits from the sale of the vinyl edition to the American Civil Liberties Union and the US Immigrant Defense Project.

Massive Attack:
"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. 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 & abandoned mind."
Tom Waits:

"One day many years ago I accepted an invitation from Massive Attack to collaborate. 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."

Massive Attack / Tom Waits - Boots on the Ground - YouTube