{"id":610620,"date":"2026-04-16T11:48:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T11:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/610620\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T11:48:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T11:48:08","slug":"massive-attack-boots-on-the-ground-ft-tom-waits-review-first-single-in-a-decade-is-a-dark-hymn-for-our-times-massive-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/610620\/","title":{"rendered":"Massive Attack: Boots on the Ground (ft Tom Waits) review \u2013 first single in a decade is a dark hymn for our times | Massive Attack"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even by the standards of a band noted for their unhurried approach, Massive Attack\u2019s recorded output has dwindled to a trickle in recent years. They\u2019ve seldom been out of the press, but less as a result of their music than their political campaigning: frontman Robert Del Naja was among<\/a> the 500 people arrested at last Saturday\u2019s Palestine Action protest. It is six years since they last released any new music \u2013 a trio of YouTube videos on which their music effectively acted as a soundbed for spoken-word pieces about global system change \u2013 and a decade since they released something you could actually buy, a single called The Spoils. Their most recent album, Heligoland, came out in 2010: Taylor Swift was still a country star, Harry Styles was still at school, Instagram and TikTok had yet to be launched.<\/p>\n

The artwork for Boots on the Ground<\/p>\n

It means that any new release automatically carries a sense of event, particularly if you\u2019re old enough to remember how significantly Massive Attack<\/a> altered the musical landscape of the 90s. You could formulate an argument that their debut album, Blue Lines, was the single most influential British album of its era: it spawned an entire subgenre, trip-hop, in its wake; 35 years on, you can still hear its echoes everywhere, from the mainstream pop of Billie Eilish and Lana Del Rey to the nu-soul of Joy Crookes and Greentea Peng to the endless swathes of anonymous \u201clo-fi beats\u201d that get millions of streams on Spotify.<\/p>\n

Of course, it\u2019s a very long time indeed since Massive Attack\u2019s own music sounded remotely like Blue Lines: from the late 90s on, their sound broadly grew darker, more abstract and disquieting, more obviously influenced by spiky post-punk experimentalism than hip-hop or soul \u2013 particularly if Del Naja, rather than bandmate Grant Marshall, was piloting the music.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

This is a state of affairs underlined by Boots on the Ground. Accompanied by a video featuring the work of a documentary photographer who posts on Instagram as thefinaleye<\/a> \u2013 Black Lives Matter protests and the police response to them; ICE raids; homeless veterans \u2013 it lasts seven minutes. Almost three of them are consumed by a deeply disconcerting intro and coda consisting entirely of the sound of guest vocalist Tom Waits\u2019s laboured breathing, as if he\u2019s panting from exhaustion or gasping for air; there\u2019s also an equally unsettling burst of complete silence five minutes in, which gives the impression the track is over.<\/p>\n

Waits\u2019s presence on Boots on the Ground underlines Massive Attack\u2019s continued ability to attract blue-chip collaborators. Perhaps that\u2019s something to do with the fact that, from early on in their career, they appeared to treat their guest vocalists less as stars making cameo appearances than genuine partners \u2013 Tracey Thorn\u2019s presence on 1994\u2019s Protection seemed to shape the sound of the whole song; something similar happened with Elizabeth Fraser on 1998\u2019s Teardrop \u2013 and so it proves here.<\/p>\n

Waits apparently submitted his vocal some years ago, but says in an accompanying quote, typically dark and droll: \u201cToday, as in all of mankind\u2019s yesterdays, guarantees this song will never go out of style.\u201d His vocals are always unmistakeable, but his spirit seems to seep into the music: if the beat is a little more streamlined than you might find on his later work, it has an ungainly lurch and a hint of arhythmic clatter to it that wouldn\u2019t be entirely out of place on one of his solo albums. A gently gloomy piano figure floats over it, and there\u2019s a curious interlude where the rhythm is replaced by military snares and indistinct hymn-like vocals. But your attention is drawn by Waits\u2019s voice \u2013 at its most Beefheartian here \u2013 and what he\u2019s saying. Apparently sung from the viewpoint of a boorish, violent, unbound figure of authority \u2013 the type of aggressor and warmonger so emboldened of late \u2013 the lyrics veer between the surreal (\u201cBig titties!\u201d) and the distressing: \u201cI killed a brown man \u2026 he choked on his spit and his face turned blue \u2026 he died right here, I got the pearl from his snout.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clearly, this isn\u2019t a piece of music destined to elbow Massive Attack\u2019s greatest hits \u2013 Teardrop, Safe from Harm, Unfinished Sympathy \u2013 from people\u2019s affections: it is dark, disturbing, ominous, with a distinct streak of WTF? running through it. Which makes it music perfectly fitting for the times.<\/p>\n