Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood’s The Smile reimagine an unreleased Radiohead song
It’s the third single from the group so far.
Image: Tim Mosenfelder / Getty
The Smile, the side project of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood along with Sons Of Kemet’s Tom Skinner, has officially released Skrting On The Surface, a track formerly played by Radiohead in shows from over a decade ago.
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The single was released alongside an accompanying music video yesterday (17 March) through XL Recordings. The video was shot and developed by BAFTA-winning director Mark Jenkin.
Skrting On The Surface can be traced back to Radiohead’s In Rainbows era and has been performed live a number of times. MTC Mag shared on YouTube an early acoustic version of the song performed at the American Airlines Centre in 2012.
The song is The Smile’s third single following The Smoke and You Will Never Work In Television Again. All three tracks are expected to appear on the band’s debut LP, which was produced by long-time Radiohead collaborator Nigel Godrich.
Speaking to NME about The Smile last year, founding member Jonny Greenwood said the project came about from “just wanting to work on music with Thom in lockdown.”
“We didn’t have much time, but we just wanted to finish some songs together,” he said of the collaboration. “It’s been very stop-start, but it’s felt a happy way to make music.”
The Smile made their very first public appearance in late January 2022 at the London event space Magazine, where they performed three full sets in 15 hours.