Massive Attack Collaborate With Tom Waits For First New Music In Six Years Boots On The Ground
Thursday, 16 April 2026
Written by Jon Stickler
Massive Attack have returned with their first new music in six years.
The sombre, politically-charged Boots On The Ground features vocals from Tom Waits and his son Casey addressing the political unrest in the United States.
The track arrives with a short film created by Massive Attack and American photographic artist thefinaleye, whose images captured over a six-year period document the recent major public protests across the US, including anti-ICE demonstrations and Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020. The intro text in the clip reads:
"From the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 5 2020, to recent ICE raids on migrant communities and the killing of civilians that protect them. From the brutal state repression of public protest, to the reality of American homelessness that includes nearly 33,000 military veterans."
The track will also be released through Play It Again Sam as an exclusive vinyl edition featuring the Waits spoken-word piece The Fly on the b-side, with all proceeds going to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Immigrant Defense Project. According to Waits, the collaboration had been in the works for some time:
"One day many years ago, I accepted an invitation from Massive Attack to collaborate. Their long release delay never worried me. Today, as in all of mankind's yesterdays, guarantees this type of song will never go out of style. Man's folly of fiascos 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's Robert “3D” Del Naja and Grant “Daddy G” Marshal shared: "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."
Boots On The Ground comes days after Del Naja was among hundreds arrested at a recent Palestine Action protest in central London. It ends a six-year period without new music from the Bristol trip-hop giants, whose most recent studio release is the 2020 EP 'Eutopia'. Their latest studio album remains 2010's 'Heligoland', though they put out a deluxe edition of 1998's 'Mezzanine' in 2019. For Waits, it marks his first new material since his 2011 album 'Bad As Me'.
In May, Massive Attack will kick off a run of shows across Europe, including appearances at Primavera Sound Barcelona and Porto, followed by a performance at Fuji Rock Festival in Japan in July.
Massive Attack Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows
Wed May 27 2026 - HELSINKI Veikkaus Arena (Finland)
Sat May 30 2026 - RATTVIK Dalhalla (Sweden)
Mon June 01 2026 - COPENHAGEN Royal Arena (Denmark)
Sun June 07 2026 - BERLIN Zitadelle (Germany)
Mon June 08 2026 - BRUSSELS Forest National (Belgium)
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