Corgan began to build the pieces of ATUM as far back as 2018, when he regained his footing by venturing into back-to-basics guitar rock (SHINY AND OH SO BRIGHT, VOL. 1) after welcoming guitarist James Iha back into the fold. Specifically, the intergalactic plotting of the track “Alienation,” which Corgan revealed via his podcast Thirty-Three—where he premiered new tracks while breaking down the album’s story in the lead-up to its official release—was a significant stepping stone to dreaming up the album’s extensive lore. Clocking in at nearly two and a half hours, ATUM delivers a complex mix of dystopian themes, ranging from the dangers of technocracy and fatalism to the permissibility of suppressing free speech. Make of that what you will, but no one can deny that Corgan is very much in his element