Tom Morello has been raging against the machine for the entirety of his music-making career — and perhaps even before. So there was no question, and there should be no surprise, that the Rage Against the Machine guitarist would address the Trump administration’s frenzied deportation efforts, particularly in Los Angeles, in song.
Morello has released the hard-hitting “Pretend You Remember Me” in coordination with the Coalition For Humane Immigrant Rights Los Angeles (CHIRLA), a Los Angeles County-based organization that was founded in 1986 and operates a hotline, legal services and other resources focused on its mission to protect the area’s immigrant community. “Releasing this song now is in direct response to what we’ve seen happening, the state terror we’ve seen happening in this country of mass agents tearing families apart,” Morello tells Billboard.
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Recent ICE raids in and around Los Angeles, as well as the federal government sending National Guard troops and U.S. Marines into Los Angeles as part of its campaign only stroked the guitarist/activist’s, well, rage.
“I was on the front lines in the battles of the Marines and cops and ICE in the streets of Los Angeles,” he says, “and blasting out of every car were Rage songs. On placards held up at every rally are the lyrics from Rage songs — some of the Nightwatchman music I played in the streets, too. So playing this music at this time felt like it was absolutely appropriate to do.
“Like anybody else, I’m all in favor of violent criminals being arrested — but I think we should start with the violent criminals who the International Criminal Court is seeking for their wars overseas rather than hard-working people who are just trying to make a decent life for their families here. If you support anything, let it be justice.
“The reason why you saw one of the biggest protests in the history of the U.S. (against the ICE raids in Los Angeles) is there is a real fear that American fascism is about to kick down our door. We’re not at the brink of it; we’re in the middle of it. The good news is tens of millions of people were out in the streets protesting it. The band news is it’s real. Fortunately there are a lot more of us than there are of them — that’s something we tend to forget.”
“Pretend You Remember Me” is slated for what Morello — who served as musical director for the recent Back to the Beginning Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne farewell concert in England — calls “my first solo rock album,” which he expects to have out next year via Mom+Pop Music. It follows “Soldier in the Army of Love,” which came out during June of 2024. “I continue to write and record,” he says. “I definitely want to have more new music out this year as I continue to tour. My rock albums have mostly been band efforts (with Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave) or they’ve been hybrid albums, like the three Atlas Underground records with a lot of guest artists and weaving in kind of EDM threads. I’ve made four acoustic Americana records under the name the Nightwatchman that are near and dear to my heart. And I’ve made rock albums with Bruce Springsteen and Prophets of Rage.
“The reason why this (rock album) is manifesting now is that over the course of the last three years I’ve been touring and embracing the totality of my catalog. That’s steered me towards making (rock) music of my own.”
Morello says to expect “some shredding guitar solos on it. On the one hand is the big Morello riffage of Rage and Audioslave; on other hand is a kind of Springsteen, Darkness on the Edge of Town vibe. (‘Pretend You Remember Me’) falls comfortably in between those.”
Morello — who played on Springsteen’s Wrecking Ball and High Hopes albums and toured as an E Street Band sub during 2013-14 — is also backing The Boss’ critical concert comments about Trump and his administration during his recent European tour. “Bruce and I have texted about the ongoing stuff. I know he’s stood strong while he’s performing overseas, that he stood strong every day, and I’m very supportive of that.”
Morello is currently playing shows in Canada, with two shows at Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom coinciding with the release of “Pretend You Remember Me.” He’ll also perform at the Rocklahoma Festival on Aug. 30 in Pryor, Okla., with more Canadian shows on his schedule in October and November.