The Smashing Pumpkins have a new song, “Black Stars,” on the soundtrack for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. It marks the band’s first work with producer Butch Vig since the 1993 album Siamese Dream.
You’ll find the track at No. 15 on The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping (The Album). MCA will put out the 29-track collection on Nov. 13, a week before the film opens in theaters on Nov. 20.
The song started while Billy Corgan was busy with a solo album. Then the film’s team asked the band for an original piece. Corgan asked Butch Vig to help choose the song that best matched the world of The Hunger Games.
The band recorded at Chaplin Studios in Los Angeles and finished some parts in Chicago. The group is Billy Corgan, James Iha, and Jimmy Chamberlin.
Vig also co-produced the band’s debut, Gish, and Siamese Dream, which has gone 7x platinum. The band started in Chicago in 1988 and has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. Its newest studio album, Aghori Mhori Mei, came out in 2024.
The soundtrack holds unreleased music from artists in many genres, all made for the world of Panem. Noah Kahan wrote “Draw You Out.” The album also has arena mixes of “Ruthless,” “Survive,” and “Doing The Best That I Can.”
The Smashing Pumpkins are currently playing arenas across North America on The Rats in a Cage Tour. “Black Stars” is part of the set. Coming stops include Oct. 22 at The Truth in Nashville and Oct. 24 at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. They perform on Nov. 12 at Kia Forum in Inglewood, California, and two days later, on Nov. 14, the band plays Darker Waves in Huntington Beach, California.
All dates are listed on the band’s website.
