The band The Smashing Pumpkins released their new album Atum – Act 1 . It is the first of three acts in a trilogy and is considered a rock opera. The debut single, “Beguiled,” was released in September.
Act 2 and Act 3 will be released on January 31st and April 21st, respectively. Following these releases, the band will also release a special edition box set containing all the tracks plus ten unreleased songs. In this way, the acts will be released every 11 weeks, coinciding with the 11 tracks present in each one.
In an interview with Audio Ink Radio (via NME ), guitarist Jeff Schroeder said that the album's length was a challenge for the band during production: “So, you work hard and get through the first 11 songs, and you're like, 'Oh, wait a second. This is just the first act. I have two more acts to do!'. So, you really have to dig deep. You have to dig deep into your soul to find out what's there.”
The concept behind Atum is to be a sequel to the classic albums Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995) and Machina/Machine of God (2000) .
Listen below to the first act of Atum and watch the music video for “Beguiled”:
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