Hear Smashing Pumpkins Debut New Song ‘Empires’ Live in Chicago

Smashing Pumpkins showcased a new song, “Empires,” live at a concert at the Metro in Chicago last night. The song will appears on the rock band’s forthcoming album, Atum, out in full April 21, 2023.

Although no video footage of the performance has emerged, an audio recording of the raucous live song emerged on YouTube following the show.

Smashing Pumpkins announced Atum: A Rock Opera in Three Acts earlier this week along 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 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 are available now, featuring the songs “Atum” and “Butterfly Suite.”

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.

Following a performance on The Tonight Show on Friday, Smashing Pumpkins will be hitting the road this fall for the Spirits on Fire Tour in North America with Jane’s Addiction.