After announcing their two summer residencies (Asheville’s Orange Peel and San Francisco’s Fillmore) earlier this week, the Smashing Pumpkins have released the cover art for their first album in nine years, Zeitgeist. The band hired artist Shepard Fairey who came up with the idea of the Staute of Liberty drowning in water, or even could be blood (it depends how deep you want to get).
Cover of new Pumpkins' album.
Fairley explained that album’s concept to Billboard: "I think global warming is an issue that is currently relevant, time sensitive, and a symptom of the shortsightedness of the U.S. As a broader metaphor, the drowning Statue of Liberty, a revered icon of the U.S., symbolizes the eminent demise of many of the ideals upon which the nation was founded. Civil liberties, freedom of speech, privacy, etc. have been decreasing since 9/11. The sun in the image could either be setting or rising and this ambiguity shows that there is still hope to turn things around." Deep.
The new album hits shelves on July 10th, but the first single “Tarantula” starts spinning on the radio May 22nd. A snipit can be heard on AOL. It’s okay.
Listen to it here: http://us.video.aol.com/player/launcher?ar=us_en_audio_748x541_full&pmmsid=1905823
