After 32 years without a new collaboration, The Smashing Pumpkins and the producer Butch Vig seal their musical reunion with “Black Stars,” an unreleased track written for the soundtrack of the upcoming film The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Harvest. A symbolic pairing that directly echoes the Siamese Dream era, the cult album released in 1993!
More than three decades after their last collaboration, Billy Corgan, James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin reconnect with the man who helped shape the Smashing Pumpkins’ sound in the early 1990s. Released online, “Black Stars” thus marks a reunion that is especially symbolic for fans of alternative rock.
Originally, the track began to take shape while Billy Corgan was working on a solo album. When the band was approached to compose an original track for the universe of The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Harvest, the singer ultimately chose to rework this composition with Butch Vig, in order to find the one that would best fit the film’s atmosphere.
The recording took place at Chaplin Studios in Los Angeles, with additional sessions in Chicago, the band’s hometown. This new collaboration directly echoes Siamese Dream, but also Gish, the Smashing Pumpkins’ debut album, also produced by Vig.
“Black Stars” appears on the soundtrack of The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Harvest, scheduled for release on November 13 by MCA. The record will bring together 29 artists from diverse musical backgrounds and will offer unreleased tracks inspired by the Panem universe. The film, directed by Francis Lawrence, will hit cinemas on November 20.
