Tom Waits releases first music in 15 years with Massive Attack collab
‘Boots on the Ground’ marks Waits’ first since 2011’s ‘Bad As Me’, and Massive Attack’s first new material in 6 years.
Photo: James Minchin III
“This is a fucking ass machine gun war.”
That sets the scene for Massive Attack and Tom Waits newest effort, Boots on the Ground. Musically, the track is akin to a lot of Waits’ earlier work, such as 1992’s Bone Machine, and Attack’s trademark trip-hop.
It’s a knuckle-dragging, stomp-and-clap hymn led by ruthless songwriting and pained vocal delivery. Waits’ weathered drawl only adds to the rawness of each hyper-masculine, sexualised delusion from ICE agents and the Trump administration: “We fight your wars / Wait in the trenches / And we fuck ‘til we’re sore”.
It’s a painful reminder of ‘a momentous American epoch that is yet to be named’, a flooring reflection of the landscape in America today. It’s one of Waits’ best efforts yet, and Massive Attack dazzle on the stripped-back, trip-hop backing.
Boots on the Ground is a protest song fit for 2026, in a digital age where the likes of Dylan, Baez and Springsteen can be seen as products of the past. As long as injustices are committed in the world, protest songs will be written. This is a worthy continuation of that very human response.
Boots on the Ground is out now.
