Smashing Pumpkins Reunite With Butch Vig For New Hunger Games Song ‘Black Stars’

The new single brings the band back together with their Siamese Dream producer for their first newly recorded song together since 1993.

The Smashing Pumpkins have just released ‘Black Stars’, reuniting with producer Butch Vig for a new song on The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping (The Album), as confirmed through their official website.

The die-hard Pumpkins fans hanging from the rafters in sheer elation can probably skip this next bit. For the rest of us who never got around to committing every album sleeve to memory, Butch Vig co-produced the band’s 1993 magnum opus, Siamese Dream, with Billy Corgan. Yes, that Butch Vig.

Getting those two back behind the desk together is a big fucking deal.

Their partnership began with the Pumpkins’ 1991 debut, Gish, before the pair pushed their studio ambitions further on Siamese Dream. Recalling those sessions in an interview republished by MusicRadar, Vig said: “When we set out to make Siamese Dream, we wanted to go way, way over the top.”

‘Black Stars’ is their first newly recorded song together since that album, according to Kerrang!

The route back into the studio together began with material Corgan was developing outside the band. According to the press release cited by Kerrang!, ‘Black Stars’ started taking shape while he was working on a solo record. After the Pumpkins were invited to contribute to The Hunger Games, Vig came aboard to help choose a song suited to the project.

Recording took place at Chaplin Studios in Los Angeles, with additional sessions in Chicago. The release brings together Corgan, guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin with the producer behind their first two albums.

The full Sunrise On The Reaping soundtrack arrives on 13 November through MCA, with Dave Cobb serving as executive producer, as SPIN reports.

While the production credits have given the sleeve obsessives something to lose their shit over, the proof is in the proverbial production pudding. To see what they’ve cooked up for yourself, you can watch the official music video here.