Band release unused track that was intended for latest secret agent instalment – ‘it didn’t work out, but became something of our own, which we love very much’

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Radiohead have delivered a Christmas surprise to their fans free of charge – a new song initially intended for the latest James Bond film.



Images of Radiohead in the studio emerge Read more

The band – who have not released an album since 2011, amid persistent speculation about when they might – said they had been asked to write the theme for Spectre, the latest instalment in the secret agent series.

“It didn’t work out, but became something of our own, which we love very much,” Radiohead wrote on their website.

“As the year closes we thought you might like to hear it.”

The song, simply entitled Spectre, opens in familiar Radiohead fashion with a series of minor chords on a piano against a backdrop of strings and synthesisers.

The lyricism relates more to the song’s title than Bond action themes, with frontman Thom Yorke opening in his trademark falsetto, “I’m lost / I’m a ghost / Dispossessed.”

While Radiohead did not explain why their song was not used, the filmmakers eventually chose a Sam Smith number for the theme of Spectre, which was released in October.

Smith’s track, Writing’s On the Wall, became the first Bond theme song to reach number one on the British singles charts.

News of the previously unknown Radiohead track will renew speculation on how far along the band has moved on a long-awaited ninth album.

Guitarist Jonny Greenwood revealed in interviews in mid-2015 that the band was back in the studio but gave few details on the project.

Radiohead members have been busy with side projects, with Yorke last year releasing his second solo album, Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes – an innovative work dominated by electronic riffs and reflections on the role of the individual in modern society.