Right now, alt-rock elder gods Smashing Pumpkins are arguably as big as they've been at any point since their '90s heyday. They're currently on an arena tour to celebrating the 30th anniversary of their opus Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness, playing venues about the same size as the ones that they toured back when the record came out. Now, they're running the clock back in a different way, contributing a new song to a blockbuster movie soundtrack. This one is especially notable because they recorded it with alt-rocker super-producer Butch Vig — their first track with Vig since he produced the 1993 classic Siamese Dream.
Smashing Pumpkins' new song "Black Stars" is their contribution to the soundtrack of the forthcoming movie The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping. Noah Kahan released his own Sunrise On The Reaping single "Draw You Out" earlier this month. The song feels like an attempt to recapture the dreamier side of the band's '90s record. The melody is pretty gentle, and there's plenty of twinkle in its crunch.
The Pumpkins made a "Black Stars" video, too, and it seems connected to the Hunger Games prequel in ways that I can't quite figure out yet. Even the song's existence feels very '90s — a throwback to the times when the Pumpkins would drop new songs on soundtracks for movies like Batman & Robin and Lost Highway. Check out the video below.
The soundtrack to The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping is out 11/13 on MCA, and the movie arrives in theaters 11/20.