TOM MORELLO // Releases New Atlas Underground Track ‘Lucky One’

Sep 13, 2018 / WORDS Gabrielle Zgrajewski / PHOTOS Eitan Mistevich / Fight the power, again

Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, and Prophets of Rage fretburning powerhouse Tom Morello has released new track Lucky One featuring K.Flay off his long awaited forthcoming album The Atlas Underground.

With the album to be released on 12 October by Mom + Sony Music Australia, Lucky One is the first taste of what is said to be Morello’s most ambitious effort of his artistic career.

With the risk of editorialising: the tune is a banger. Truthful lyrics, the basis of the tune is about privilege, which is mentioned in a sit down video of Morello and K.Flay discussing the creation of Lucky Once. Reflecting on the message of the song, K.Flay says “Privilege is a multi-faceted and highly contextual thing. I think as a woman you experience a system of non-privilege or under privilege or whatever, but however, like we talked about I had economic privilege, I’m a white person—that’s a privilege in this country and in this world.”

During the chorus of Lucky One, K.Flay sings “Are you a sucker or a lucky one?” imposing the question on privilege and whether the absence of privilege is there, following it up later in the song with “I wanna finish first, I wanna make my place/I wanna move the earth, I wanna make it shake/I wanna be your boss, don’t wanna sell my soul/I wanna take it off, I wanna have control”.

This is just a hint of Morello’s true and fierce commitment to activism and using his platform to raise awareness on social issues. When asked about Lucky One he stated “Are you the person you were meant to be? The next Mozart might be slaving away somewhere in a sweatshop. The doctor who could cure cancer might instead be behind bars for petty theft. Lucky One asks, Who’s dreams turn to dust? Whose are allowed to flower? Who dies first? Who laughs last? Who’s the lucky one?”.

Partnering with Color of Change to raise awareness about police brutality and race relations in America, Lucky One is a reflection of his commitment to activism and the change that is still awaiting to be made.

Accompanied with slowed rock riffs and basic drumming patterns, it really sits the vocals in front, capturing the importance of its lyrics.

Recently announcing “The Atlas Underground Experience”, Morello is giving fans in 9 cities across North America the exclusive opportunity to hear the record in full before and following the release date. Sharing a drink with Morello himself, fans will get the chance to hear behind-the-scenes stories about the up-coming record with collaborators like Marcus Mumford, Portugal. The Man, Gary Clark Jr., Big Boi, Bassnectar and more.

If you’re not in North America, do not stress! Pre-order from JB Hi-Fi for your chance to win an Epiphone Les Paul Studio LT Electric Guitar signed by Tom Morello, here.