Billy Corgan has addressed the breakdown of civil discourse during the 2020 US presidential election, saying that it’s not helping anyone move forward.

The Smashing Pumpkins frontman was speaking to NME about the band’s new double album ‘CYR‘ when he was asked about his feelings on the recent election in his country.

“You can’t talk about politics over here, man. People have lost their mind over here,” he said. “You’re talking about families breaking up, friendships ending. Politics for whatever reason has taken over rock’n’roll in Hollywood as everyone’s favourite gossip sport.

“And they’re so wrapped up in it, it’s like Man City and Man U. It’s like some other shit right? You can’t have a normal discussion. You can’t say you like something, but you don’t like something. If you say you like it, then you love it. If you’re on the side somebody doesn’t like…You can’t talk about anything. I’m out,” he said.

When asked if he thinks president-elect Joe Biden can heal America’s divisions, he responded: “With Biden coming in, this is the problem: [the election] has been set up as a divided thing so no matter who wins, the other side has to lose. And if the other side is losing, they’re not gonna accept the candidate.

“Trump got 74 million votes, so those are 74 million people who are pissed off. They don’t give a fuck who the President is. We’ve lost the civil part of the discourse. It’s just anger. Trust me: the minute you pop your head up, you get attacked. It’s like, ‘Who are you a dumb musician, to talk about these things?”

He concluded: “All I want is just for everybody to get along. America, like the UK, works best when everyone is moving in the same direction. The division is not helping anybody.”

Corgan’s band’s new record, ‘CYR’, follows the 2018 record ‘Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun.’, which was produced by Rick Rubin and saw frontman Corgan reunite with former bandmates James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin.