Description
Tom Morello is living proof of the transformative power of rock
’
n
’
roll. As the co-founder of Rage
Against The Machine, Audioslave and Prophets Of Rage, a
nd through collaborations with everyone
from Bruce Springsteen to Johnny Cash, he has continuall
y pushed the limits of what one man can
do with six strings.
But on his latest album
The Atlas Underground
, he
’
s transformed his sound into something even he
could not have anticipated, blending Marshall stack riff-
rock with the digital wizardry of EDM and hip-
hop to create the most ambitious artistic effort of his st
oried career.
The Atlas Underground
includes collaborations with Marcus Mumford, Portugal.
The Man, the Wu-
Tang Clan
’
s RZA and GZA, Vic Mensa, K.Flay, Big Boi, Gary Clark Jr.,
Pretty Lights, Killer Mike and
Whethan among others.
“
The riffs and the beats led the way, but the extraordi
nary talents of the
collaborators set my creativity into uncharted territor
y,
”
says Morello of the project, which will be
released October 12
th
, 2018 by Mom + Pop Music.
Assembled over the last two years in a variety of studio
s,
The Atlas Underground
is what Morello
calls
“
a clandestine sonic conspiracy of artists working in disparate
locations toward a shared goal of
creating a new genre of music.
”
The lyrics often take the form of
“
social justice ghost stories,
”
and on
tracks such as Bassnectar, Big Boi and Killer Mike
’
s
“
Rabbit Revenge
”
and the RZA/GZA-featuring
“
Lead Poisoning,
”
they convey the experiences of those less fortunate who
were unable to speak up
for themselves.
“
T
his record also afforded me the opportunity to divest m
yself of my natural Type A controlling
character,
”
admits Morello, whom Rolling Stone has recognized as on
e of the
100 greatest guitar
players of all time.
“
After initial conversations with the collaborators about
theme and lyrics, I made it
clear that there was no ego stake in these songs and that
the only goal was to make something we
all loved; something that was fucking powerful with no
preconceived notions other than the freedom
of taking a blank sonic page and letting our freak flag
fly.
”
Morello knew some of his collaborators beforehand, parti
cularly the Wu-Tang members, with whom
Rage Against The Machine shared an infamous U.S. tour b
ill in summer 1997. In other cases, the
connections were serendipitous, such as when Morello heard
K.Flay on the radio and cold-called
her, only to discover they were both from Illinois and
“
shared that suburban angst.
”
Morello took great joy in sending batches of riffs and g
uitar noises to collaborators such as
Bassnectar and Knife Party, who would send back
“
smashing tracks
”
that scrambled everything
together. Just as rewarding were in-person jam sessions wi
th artists such as Clark, where songs
were built verse/chorus/lyrics from scratch. And in the case
of
“
Find Another Way,
”
Mumford and
Morello teamed up for early-morning Skype sessions in-be
tween their parental duties.
“
I
’
ve been devoted both musically and as an activist to fig
hting injustice at every turn,
”
says Morello.
“
Amid this heightened sense of impending doom, it
’
s now time to rally the troops in a last-ditch effort
to save the planet, and our artistic souls. By challengi
ng the boundaries of what music is and has
sounded like before, you can open peoples
’
eyes to changing the status quo in society.
”
In tandem with acclaimed multi-media artist Sam Durant
and director Sean Evans, who staged
Roger Waters
’
“
The Wall,
”
Morello is planning an innovative live presentation
of the music on
The
Atlas Underground
, which won
’
t be reliant on fill-ins to replicate the guest artist
’
s contributions.
“
We
’
re assembling something that
’
s more of an art installation than a show, which is diff
erent than
anything anyone has ever done,
”
he says.
“
It will be a challenging piece in non-traditional ven
ues
that will bring the ideas on the album to life
—
a last big event before we all go to jail.
”
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