It begins with the sound of laboured breath, then an ominous clattering – like the tick of a grandfather clock – and stark, moody piano notes. “Boots on the Ground”, Massive Attack’s first new music in more than a decade, feels like the most powerful new protest song in years.
A collaboration with the gravel-voiced Tom Waits, also returning to music for the first time since his 2011 album, Bad as Me, “Boots on the Ground” is accompanied by a video using imagery from the US photographer thefinaleye. The striking visuals depict recent anti-ICE demonstrations in America alongside Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, on 5 May 2020.
