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Nov 20, 2017 By Christopher Roberts Billy Corgan

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Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins released a new solo album under his full name, William Patrick Corgan, Ogilala, last month via BMG. Now he’s back to being just regular old Billy Corgan and he has stopped by NPR’s offices to perform three songs as a Tiny Desk Concert. For the uninitiated, Tiny Desk Concerts are stripped down sets recorded at the desk of Bob Boilen, the host of NPR’s All Songs Considered. Corgan performed Ogilala‘s “Aeronaut” and “Mandarynne,” but more importantly did The Smashing Pumpkins’ “Tonight, Tonight” with a string section. Watch the performance below.

Previously Corgan shared its first single, “Aeronaut,” as well as a video for “The Spaniards.” The album is accompanied by a silent film, Pillbox, written by Corgan and co-directed by Corgan and Linda Strawberry. Rick Rubin produced the album, which was recorded at Shangri La studios in Malibu, Los Angeles. A previous press release says the album “presents Corgan’s distinctive vocals and melodies across a sparse, but rich palette of acoustic guitar, piano, and strings.”

Corgan had this to say about the album in a previous press release: “For as long as I can remember the delineation point between songs I wrote for myself and songs I’d pen for whatever band was something I couldn’t explain. And it remains so, for they all feel quite personal to me, no matter their time or era. The lone difference on songs for Ogilala is that they seemed to want little in the way of adornment. Having written the songs for voice and guitar, I put myself in Rick’s hands to take the music wherever he’d like. Normally I would have done more, and tinkered more on production, but rather Rick put the onus on me to deliver at a molecular level via live takes. The rest was simply a reaction.”

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