Massive Attack’s First Song in Six Years Features Tom Waits

After six years away, Massive Attack have finally gifted us with new music. The single “Boots on the Ground”—the duo’s first release since 2020’s Eutopia EP—also includes a rare feature from Tom Waits, who sings about socio-political turmoil in America. “Now who the hell are these federal pricks? Hiding in the Senate like a bloated-ass tick” he says, and “Born shiny bullets in an army of ants, blow that horn, we sleep in our pants” (a line Waits follows up with, for some reason, a mention of “big titties, big titties”). The song arrives with a short film spotlighting the photography of thefinaleye, who captured scenes from pandemic-era Black Lives Matter protests and the current countrywide ICE raids.

On an eco-friendly 12″ vinyl release, the B-side of “Boots on the Ground” will also feature a spoken-word Waits song called “The Fly”—his first standalone, solo original in 15 years. Waits said in a press release, “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’s Robert “3D” Del Naja and Grant “Daddy G” Marshal said in a press release, “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.” On April 11, Del Naja was arrested at a demonstration in support of the activist group Palestine Action.

In 2025, Massive Attack requested to have their music pulled from Spotify, saying “the economic burden that has long been placed on artists is now compounded by a moral & ethical burden, whereby the hard-earned money of fans & the creative endeavours of musicians ultimately fund lethal, dystopian technologies.” Next month, the duo will launch a short tour that will take them across Europe before ending in Niigata, Japan. Scroll down for the full itinerary.

Waits’ last album was 2011’s Bad as Me. Since then, he has primarily focused on acting, recently starring in 2025’s Father Mother Sister Brother and 2023’s The Absence of Eden.

Read the new track review of “Boots on the Ground.”

Massive Attack: Boots on the Ground

Massive Attack:
05-27 Helsinki, Finland – Veikkaus Arena
05-30 Rättvik, Sweden – Dalhalla
06-01 Copenhagen, Denmark – Royal Arena
06-04 Barcelona, Spain – Primavera Sound
06-07 Berlin, Berlin – Zitadelle
06-08 Brussels, Belgium – Forest National
07-26 Niigata, Japan – Fuji Rock Festival

Massive Attack xLive 2026

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misquoted Waits’ lyrics in “Boots on the Ground”