Spectre (song)

"Spectre" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 25 December 2015. It was produced by Nigel Godrich, and written for the 2015 James Bond film Spectre, but went unused.

This article is about the Radiohead song. For the song by Alan Walker, see Alan Walker discography. For other uses, see Spectre.

"Spectre"
Song by Radiohead
A-side"Burn the Witch" (vinyl)
Released25 December 2015
Genre
Length3:19
Label
  • Self-released
  • XL
Producer(s)Nigel Godrich
Alternate cover
Original SoundCloud release cover

Radiohead initially submitted another song for the film, "Man of War", written in the 1990s. It was rejected by the producers as it had not been written for the film and was therefore ineligible for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Radiohead suspended work on their ninth album, A Moon Shaped Pool (2016), to record another song, "Spectre", an orchestral ballad. However, the producers instead used "Writing's on the Wall" by Sam Smith.

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

Writing and recording

In 2015, rumours spread that Radiohead would record the theme for the upcoming James Bond film Spectre. In July, the bookmaker William Hill suspended bets after a customer placed £15,000 at ten-to-one odds on Radiohead, suspecting insider knowledge.[1]

Radiohead met the Bond production team to discuss writing the theme. The director, Sam Mendes, and the James Bond actor, Daniel Craig, were both Radiohead fans.[2] Radiohead submitted "Man of War", an unreleased song written in the 1990s, which the singer, Thom Yorke, had once described as an homage to Bond themes.[3][4] The Spectre team liked "Man of War", but rejected it when they discovered it had not been written for the film and was therefore ineligible for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.[5]

Radiohead suspended work on their ninth album, A Moon Shaped Pool (2016), to record another song for the film, "Spectre".[6] However, the production team felt it was too melancholy for the title sequence,[7] and instead used "Writing's on the Wall" by Sam Smith.[8] The Bond producer Barbara Broccoli said that "Spectre" 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."[5]

Radiohead's producer, Nigel Godrich, described the experience as a "real waste of energy", and said that it disrupted work on A Moon Shaped Pool.[6] Yorke said the decision not to use the song was "just politics as far as I can tell".[9] The lead guitarist, Jonny 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."[7]

Composition

"Spectre" is an orchestral ballad[10] that features Yorke's falsetto with "jerky" piano chords, strings, and jazz-like drums.[11]

Release

Radiohead released "Spectre" on the audio platform SoundCloud on Christmas Day 2015. Yorke announced the song on Twitter, writing: "Last year we were asked to write a tune for Bond movie Spectre. 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."[12] It was the first Radiohead release since the 2011 single "Daily Mail" / "Staircase".[12]

"Spectre" was included as the B-side on Radiohead's 2016 vinyl single "Burn the Witch".[13] It was also included as a bonus track on the special edition of Radiohead's album A Moon Shaped Pool.[14]

Reception

Variety wrote that "Spectre" has "Radiohead's signature moody sound, with a somber sweeping grandeur that might have fit well into the Bond song canon".[15] Pitchfork named it the week's "Best New Music", and wrote that it has "all the melodrama of a good Bond song but only a hint of the kitsch... [It is] one of the finest Radiohead songs in some years, much more than a one-off curiosity."[11] Pitchfork likened it to Radiohead's 2001 single "Pyramid Song".[11] Chris DeVille of Stereogum picked "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".[16] After "Writing's on the Wall" won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song the following week, DeVille wrote that "Spectre" was "the more masterful of the two tracks".[17]

Release history
Region Date Label Format Catalogue no.
Worldwide 25 December 2015 XL Download -
 United States 16 May 2016 7" (B-side) 407917[18]

References
  1. "Nobody does it, better: Bond theme betting suspended after punter tries to put £15,000 on Radiohead". The Guardian. 29 July 2015. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  2. The Sound of 007 (documentary). Amazon Prime. October 2022. Event occurs at 1:06:00. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  3. "Turn Your Radiohead On!". NME. 18 November 1995.
  4. Geslani, Michelle (22 June 2017). "Radiohead share video for previously unreleased song 'Man of War' — watch". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  5. Mendes, Sam (5 November 2017). "Sam Mendes". Sound and Vision (Interview). Interviewed by Miranda Sawyer. BBC Radio 6 Music. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  6. Greene, Andy (8 June 2017). "19 Things We Learned Hanging Out With Radiohead". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  7. "Radiohead interview: 'It's a very happy time' - BBC News". BBC News. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  8. "Radiohead reveal rejected theme for James Bond film Spectre". BBC News. 25 December 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  9. Trendell, Andrew (3 October 2018). "Thom Yorke on how he nearly wrote the soundtrack for Fight Club". NME. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  10. "Radiohead did write the theme for James Bond's Spectre, and you can hear it now -- listen". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  11. "Radiohead: "Spectre"". Pitchfork. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  12. Kreps, Daniel (25 December 2015). "Hear Radiohead's Unused James Bond Theme 'Spectre'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  13. "Update: Radiohead's "Burn the Witch" receives vinyl release". Consequence of Sound. 12 May 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  14. "Radiohead gift fans with surprise new B-Side "Ill Wind" — listen". 30 September 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  15. "Thom Yorke Posts Rejected Radiohead 'Spectre' Theme Song (AUDIO)". Variety. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  16. "The 5 Best Songs Of The Week". Stereogum. 8 January 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  17. "Sam Smith Doesn't Know Who Thom Yorke Is, Hasn't Heard Radiohead's "Spectre"". Stereogum. 12 January 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  18. "Radiohead – Burn The Witch b/w Spectre (Indie Exclusive)". Bull Moose. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
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