Violet Grohl has shared a new song, ‘Metal Birds’, from the soundtrack to The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping. Listen below.
The slow-burning, atmospheric track arrived today (Friday November 13), ahead of the sixth film in the Hunger Games franchise, which hits cinemas on November 20.
It marks the first material from Grohl since dropping her acclaimed debut studio album, ‘Be Sweet To Me’, in May.
“Writing ‘Metal Birds’ was one of the most special songwriting experiences for me,” she explained. “I’ve loved the [Hunger Games] movies and the book series since I was a kid, so it was a total honour to be asked to write a song about a story that I feel so connected to.
“It opened up the world of dystopian themes for me. I found the visuals in the movie to be so striking and strong and important to the plot that I felt like I needed to include them in the song.”
She added: “And I took mental notes of lots of things I had seen, and they really stuck with me. And so the songwriting process came really easily and was really fun.”
Produced by Justin Raisen and Lewis Pesacov, ‘Metal Birds’ finds Grohl singing over a moody, stripped-back instrumental: “Metal birds in the sky/ Come and take me away/ Generator, power breaker / Look at me through the embers.”
Later in the song, the simple electric guitar work is accompanied by some increasingly lush orchestral elements. “Kiss you with a smile/ Death hung around my neck,” Grohl adds. “Let’s leave it for a while/ I’ll lay the flowers on your chest/ Open eyes are for the weeping.”
Out today, ‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping (The Album)’ also features cuts by Stevie Nicks, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Cure, Noah Kahan, Kacey Musgraves and many more.
Grohl made her debut appearances at Reading & Leeds over the summer after postponing two UK shows due to illness. She’ll play her rescheduled gigs in Glasgow and Manchester next month, after opening for Beabadoobee in Europe.
She’ll head to Japan, Australia and South America in early 2027, before performing at Coachella in California in April. Grohl has also been confirmed for next year’s Bilbao BBK Live in Spain.
The singer-songwriter’s slot at Leeds Festival featured in NME‘s round-up of the most magical moments from R&L ’26. She has since covered The Cure’s classic track ‘High’, hailing it as “such a cute love song”, and played on Later… With Jools Holland.
Earlier in the year, Grohl opened up about being a young woman in rock: “I don’t like male musicians my age – I don’t care. They have attitude problems. They’ve been saying this about us for so fucking long – it’s time that they sit down, be quiet and play their music.
“The best advice I’ve been given is that it’s OK to say no or that you don’t want to do something.”
Her father – Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl – previously revealed that he had “no idea” his daughter had signed a record deal until she told him over dinner.
“I’m totally uninvolved,” he explained. “I’m like the dad that wants to be there and know everything and she’s just totally doing her own thing. It’s amazing.”
