Sophia Michaels
The Smashing Pumpkins are previewing their new album, Atum: A Rock Opera in Three Acts, with a new song, “Beguiled.” The group is billing the 33-track opus, whose title they say should be pronounced “autumn,” as a sequel to 1995’s Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and 2000’s Machina/The Machine of God. The album will come out in full on April 21.
The group premiered “Beguiled” in a performance on TikTok, and frontman Billy Corgan, who is not known for doing anything the easy way, will premiere a new track every week for the next 33 weeks on his new podcast, Thirty-Three With William Patrick Corgan. The first two episodes became available today, featuring the songs “Atum” and “Butterfly Suite”; the frontman’s first guest on the podcast is longtime David Bowie pianist Mike Garson.
Each of the 11-song acts will be released along with the podcast; Act 1 will be available on Nov. 15, Act 2 on Jan. 31, and Act 3 will complete the drama on April 21. That same day, the group will release a special edition box set containing 10 more, previously unreleased songs.
The band is marking the announcement of new music this week with two shows at smaller venues, Chicago’s Metro and New York City’s Irving Plaza, as well as a performance this Friday of “Beguiled” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The Pumpkinswill be hitting the road this fall for what they’re calling the Spirits on Fire Tour with Jane’s Addiction for a North American arena tour.
