Update (30/10): the Comandante EP is now available. Listen to it now.
Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello has announced a surprise new EP, Comandante, set for release this Friday (October 30) – and it looks set to be a celebration of all things electric guitar.
The EP’s tracklisting includes Interstate 80, which features a guest appearance from Slash, while Voodoo Child opens up the release – although it hasn’t been confirmed, it’s surely a cover of the Jimi Hendrix classic.
Other songs include Suburban Guerrilla, Cato Stedman & Neptune Frost, and Secretariat (For EVH), Morello’s tribute to the late Eddie Van Halen.
Last month, Morello said he had been recording new material at home during lockdown.
“I have a studio at my home but I am not an engineer,” he told Guitar World.
“I have a 96 year-old mom who lives on the premises, so we’re super-locked down here. Nobody comes in and nobody comes out. Usually the only knob they let me touch in the studio is the volume knob.
“So I’ve been recording all my new guitar parts on my iPhone. I just hold it up to the amp. It makes me think I’ve wasted money on mics, because it sounds pretty fucking good...”
Despite the delay to Rage Against the Machine’s reunion tour, Morello has certainly been busy in 2020, releasing a new single, You Belong To Me, a deluxe photo book, and even an audiobook.
Just this week, he joined members of the Foo Fighters and the Bangles for a cover of the Eurythmics’ Sweet Dreams with Afghan group Girl With a Guitar.
Comandante will be the guitarist’s first new collection of material since 2018’s all-star collaborative album, The Atlas Underground.
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