Massive Attack and Tom Waits have teamed up for a new track, Boots on the Ground, "with an exclusive-to-vinyl B-side provided by Waits – a droll and sardonic spoken word piece entitled The Fly".
The track is Massive Attack's first single in a decade and Waits' first new recording in 15 years, with additional vocals by his son Casey.
All profits from the sale of the vinyl edition of Boots on the Ground will go to the American Civil Liberties Union and the US Immigrant Defense Project.
It is the first Massive Attack music "distributed under a Spotify exemption policy", with the duo of 3D (Robert Del Naja) and Daddy G (Grant Marshall) planning further releases before and after their upcoming tour.
The track is accompanied by a film created by Massive Attack and photo artist thefinaleye.
The film "portrays a momentous American epoch that is yet to be named, and comes in the aftermath of the largest public protests in American history - focused on opposition to ICE raids, the militarisation of domestic forces, and state authoritarianism".
"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," said Massive Attack.
"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 and abandoned mind."
"One day many years ago, I accepted an invitation from Massive Attack to collaborate," Waits recounted.
"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."
Alongside the film and music, on Friday, 17 April, Massive Attack will publish "an exclusive spoken word reflection on the themes of the work" from writer Omar El Akkad, the author of the novels American War and What Strange Paradise, and the non-fiction book One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This.
