Music

Zack de la Rocha released a new song and is finally, officially going solo

by Tyler Munro

Sixteen years ago, Zack de la Rocha left Rage Against the Machine and set off to make a solo album. Rage fans know what happened next… Nothing.

For a decade-plus, de la Rocha popped up in guest verses and teased collaborations with Trent Reznor, DJ Shadow and DJ Premiere. And for years, those teases fizzled out. He reunited with Rage in 2007, and the cycle continued; finally, it has been broken.

He has, of course, released songs on his own before — the odd bit on an activist compilation here, a soundtrack there, but this is finally the surge fans have been waiting what-feels-like-forever for.

Earlier this morning, de la Rocha finally released the first single off of his long awaited solo debut and, being who he is, tossed it up for free on BitTorrent.

“Digging for Windows” was produced by El-P, who’s been tied to de la Rocha rumours since we first heard about his solo work back in 2000. They most recently collaborated on the Run the Jewels gem “Close Your Eyes and Count to Fuck,” which reminded fans just how much they missed de la Rocha’s trademark bark.

The track is as you would expect from the former Rage Against the Machine frontman. Ferocious, but with an unmistakeable bounce to it. And contrary to the fears that have delayed his solo works for years, it doesn’t sound much like Rage at all.

A solo album is reportedly coming soon, for real this time. It doesn’t have a title yet, but one of his representatives confirmed as much according to Consequence of Sound.