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Spectre (song)

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This article is about the Radiohead song. For the Alan Walker song, seeThe Spectre (song).

"Spectre"
SongbyRadiohead
A-side"Burn the Witch"
Released25 December 2015
Genre
Length3:19
Label
  • Self-released
  • XL
Producer(s)Nigel Godrich
Alternate cover
OriginalSoundCloudrelease cover

"Spectre"is a song by the English rock bandRadiohead,released on 25 December 2015. It was produced byNigel Godrich.

Radiohead recorded "Spectre", an orchestral ballad, for the 2015James BondfilmSpectreafter another song they had submitted, "Man of War",was rejected. However, the producers instead used"Writing's on the Wall"bySam Smith,and "Spectre" went unused.

Radiohead released "Spectre" as a freedownload,their first release since 2011. It was also included as a B-side on the 2016 single "Burn the Witch"and the special edition ofA Moon Shaped Pool.It received positive reviews.

Writing and recording[edit]

Radiohead were approached by theBondproduction team to write the theme for the upcomingJames BondfilmSpectre(2015).[1]The director,Sam Mendes,and theJames Bondactor,Daniel Craig,were both Radiohead fans.[2]In July 2015, the bookmakerWilliam Hillsuspended bets after a customer placed £15,000 at ten-to-one odds on Radiohead, suspecting insider knowledge.[3]

Radiohead first submitted "Man of War", an unreleased song written in the 1990s, which the singer,Thom Yorke,had once described as an homage toBondthemes.[4][5]TheSpectreteam liked "Man of War", but rejected it when they discovered it had not been written for the film and was therefore ineligible for theAcademy Award for Best Original Song.[6]

Radiohead suspended work on their ninth album,A Moon Shaped Pool(2016), to record another song for the film, "Spectre".[7]However, the production team instead used "Writing's on the Wall" by Sam Smith.[8]The lead guitarist,Jonny Greenwood,said the production team felt "Spectre" was "too dark".[9]Yorke said the decision not to use the song was "just politics as far as I can tell".[10]TheBondproducerBarbara Broccolisaid it arrived too late to be used, and that the team had already created the title sequence using "Writing's on the Wall".[2]Mendes attempted to use "Spectre" elsewhere in the film, but decided its lyrics made it distracting. He described the situation as "an utter nightmare... We had this beautiful song and we weren't able to use it. But it's somehow cooler for Radiohead to have written a song that wasn't used."[6]

Radiohead's producer, Nigel Godrich, described the experience as a "real waste of energy", and said it disrupted work onA Moon Shaped Pool.[7]Greenwood said that Radiohead were free to finish and release "Spectre" as they wanted, and so "that side of it was really positive... We get to have it back and it's ours and we got to put it out. We're really, really proud of it."[9]

Composition[edit]

"Spectre" is an orchestral ballad[11]that features Yorke'sfalsetto,strings, "jerky" piano chords and jazz-like drums.[12]Pitchforklikened it to Radiohead's 2001 single "Pyramid Song",[12]and said it had the "melodrama" of aBondtheme with "only a hint of thekitsch".[12]Varietywrote that "Spectre" had "Radiohead's signature moody sound, with a somber sweeping grandeur".[13]

Release[edit]

Radiohead released "Spectre" on the audio platformSoundCloudonChristmas Day2015. Yorke announced the song onTwitter,writing: "Last year we were asked to write a tune for Bond movieSpectre.Yes we were. It didn't work out... but became something of our own which we love very much. As the year closes we thought you might like to hear it. Merry Christmas. "[14]It was the first Radiohead release since the 2011 single "The Daily Mail"/"Staircase".[14]

"Spectre" was included as theB-sideon Radiohead's 2016 vinyl single "Burn the Witch".[15]It was also included as a bonus track on the special edition of Radiohead's 2016 albumA Moon Shaped Pool.[16]

Reception[edit]

Pitchforknamed it the week's "Best New Music", finding that it was "one of the finest Radiohead songs in some years, much more than a one-off curiosity".[12]Varietywrote that it "might have fit well into theBondsong canon ".[13]Chris DeVille ofStereogumpicked "Spectre" as one of the week's best songs, writing that it was "beautiful" and a reminder that "Radiohead still have life left in them".[17]After "Writing's on the Wall" won theGolden Globe Award for Best Original Songthe following week, DeVille wrote that "Spectre" was "the more masterful of the two tracks".[18]In 2020, theGuardiannamed "Spectre" the 38th-best Radiohead song, writing: "Thom Yorke is persuasive – if not exactly suave – in character as the secret agent, but credit Jonny Greenwood, as we often must, with its emotive thwack."[19]

Release history[edit]

Region Date Label Format Catalogue no.
Worldwide 25 December 2015 XL Download -
United States 16 May 2016 7 " 407917[20]

References[edit]

  1. ^Greene, Andy (8 June 2017)."19 things we learned hanging out with Radiohead".Rolling Stone.Retrieved8 June2017.
  2. ^abThe Sound of 007(documentary).Amazon Prime.October 2022. Event occurs at 1:06:00.Retrieved8 October2022.
  3. ^"Nobody does it, better: Bond theme betting suspended after punter tries to put £15,000 on Radiohead".The Guardian.29 July 2015.ISSN0261-3077.Retrieved20 November2017.
  4. ^"Turn Your Radiohead On!".NME.18 November 1995.
  5. ^Geslani, Michelle (22 June 2017)."Radiohead share video for previously unreleased song 'Man of War' — watch".Consequence of Sound.Retrieved29 July2017.
  6. ^abMendes, Sam(5 November 2017)."Sam Mendes".Sound and Vision(Interview). Interviewed byMiranda Sawyer.BBC Radio 6 Music.Retrieved6 November2017.
  7. ^abGreene, Andy (8 June 2017)."19 Things We Learned Hanging Out With Radiohead".Rolling Stone.Retrieved8 June2017.
  8. ^"Radiohead reveal rejected theme for James Bond film Spectre".BBC News.25 December 2015.Retrieved26 December2015.
  9. ^ab"Radiohead interview: 'It's a very happy time' - BBC News".BBC News.Retrieved16 June2016.
  10. ^Trendell, Andrew (3 October 2018)."Thom Yorke on how he nearly wrote the soundtrack forFight Club".NME.Retrieved4 October2018.
  11. ^"Radiohead did write the theme for James Bond's Spectre, and you can hear it now -- listen".Consequence of Sound.Retrieved27 December2015.
  12. ^abcdCook-Wilson, Winston (4 January 2016)."Radiohead:" Spectre "".Pitchfork.Retrieved5 January2016.
  13. ^abSaperstein, Pat (25 December 2016)."Thom Yorke Posts Rejected RadioheadSpectreTheme Song ".Variety.Retrieved27 December2015.
  14. ^abKreps, Daniel (25 December 2015)."Hear Radiohead's Unused James Bond Theme 'Spectre'".Rolling Stone.Retrieved6 November2017.
  15. ^"Update: Radiohead's" Burn the Witch "receives vinyl release".Consequence of Sound.12 May 2016.Retrieved17 May2016.
  16. ^"Radiohead gift fans with surprise new B-Side" Ill Wind "— listen".30 September 2016.Retrieved30 September2016.
  17. ^"The 5 Best Songs Of The Week".Stereogum.8 January 2016.Retrieved5 June2018.
  18. ^"Sam Smith Doesn't Know Who Thom Yorke Is, Hasn't Heard Radiohead's" Spectre "".Stereogum.12 January 2016.Retrieved5 June2018.
  19. ^Monroe, Jazz (23 January 2020)."Radiohead's 40 greatest songs – ranked!".The Guardian.ISSN0261-3077.Retrieved24 January2020.
  20. ^"Radiohead – Burn The Witch b/w Spectre (Indie Exclusive)".Bull Moose.Retrieved8 May2016.
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