The Smile unearth the unreleased Radiohead gem “Skrting on the Surface” for the latest single from the Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood side project.
The track dates back to Radiohead’s In Rainbows sessions and was performed live a handful of times by both that band and Yorke’s Atoms for Peace side project before disappearing for a decade. With the Smile, “Skrting on the Surface” gets a technicolor makeover thanks to Greenwood’s arpeggios, Tom Skinner’s drum work and a bath of synths and subtle brass that accompany Yorke in the closing minutes.
The Smile also shared their new video for “Skrting on the Surface,” featuring Yorke as a miner in Cornwall, England’s disused Rosevale Tin Mine. The visual was shot on black-and-white 16mm film by BAFTA-winning director Mark Jenkin, who also hand-developed the film using water taken from that mine.
Ahead of the debut LP, the Smile have so far released “You Will Never Work in Television Again” as well as “The Smoke.” Additionally, Yorke surprised-released a new song titled “5.17” this weekend, a track the singer penned for the final season of Peaky Blinders.
Hear an early acoustic version of “Skrting on the Surface,” as performed by Radiohead in 2012, below:
From Rolling Stone US
