Hear Foo Fighters’ Fiery New Song ‘Something From Nothing’

The Foo Fighters’ Sonic Highways is set to premiere on HBO on October 17th, but the day before Dave Grohl and company’s eight-episode musical travelogue begins, the band shared their new album’s first single “Something From Nothing.” As evidenced by the song’s artwork, a painting of the Windy City’s skyline punctuated by the Willis Tower, “Something From Nothing” comes from the Foo Fighters’ weeklong Chicago stop of their Sonic Highways journey. Chicago will also be the focal point of the series’ premiere episode before the band hits the road again.

As the band revealed in the Sonic Highways trailer, many of the album’s lyrics are based on Grohl’s interviews with its respective city’s musicians. The lyric “Here lies a city on fire”¦ it started with a spark, and burned into the dark” seems to be inspired by the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, an incident that was also the subject of the Beach Boys’ Smile track “Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow.”

Given the involvement of producer Steve Albini in some capacity on the Chicago-inspired track, it feels like a song borne out of the Windy City: The drums explode with Albini’s patented crash, while the soaring guitar assault is reminiscent of Chicago’s own Smashing Pumpkins.

Immediately following the premiere of Sonic Highways, HBO will livestream a Foo Fighters concert from Chicago’s The Cubby Bear. This small venue gig in Wrigleyville will also sport the debut live performance of “Something From Nothing.” The group also still has two nights left in their weeklong, guest-filled residency on the Late Show With David Letterman.