Tom Morello Issues ICE Protest With Serj Tankian and His Son

Tom Morello released “Adjourn It” today, May 29, the second single from his forthcoming solo album on Mom + Pop. The track features System of a Down’s Serj Tankian and Morello’s 15-year-old son Roman on guitar. Zakk Cervini handled production.

The song is a direct response to ICE enforcement in the United States. Morello calls it “a clarion call for justice in unjust times,” citing the persecution of immigrants and what he describes as a rising tide of fascism. Tankian puts it plainly: “Adjourn It is a protest anthem against the continued barbarism leveled by ICE in the U.S., separating families, racial profiling and in some cases killing.” He adds that most cases would be adjourned by judges if due legal process were actually applied.

The video incorporates footage from Salt of the Earth, the blacklisted 1954 film about Mexican-American miners fighting labor exploitation. That choice extends the song’s argument into labor history and systemic racism without needing to say much more.

Morello has been active on this front beyond the studio. He spent the past month performing with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. In January, he and Springsteen went to Minnesota to protest ICE raids and the murders of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. More recently, Morello joined demonstrations outside Manhattan’s immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza alongside the organization Hands Off NYC.

The single arrives hours after the announcement of Morello’s Power to the People festival, set for October 3 outside Washington, D.C. The alignment of release and live action reads as intentional. Roman Morello’s presence on the track also continues a pattern. The guitarist has been folding his son into his musical work with some regularity now, and the kid’s chops are sharp enough to belong there.

The as-yet-untitled album follows Morello’s twin 2021 solo records, The Atlas Underground: Fire and The Atlas Underground: Flood. No release date has been set.