Radiohead singer and instrumentalist Thom Yorke has released a new song entitled “5.17”, much to the surprise and delight of fans. It has been rumoured that the tune will be a featured on the soundtrack to the sixth season of the revered Netflix crime drama Peaky Blinders. You can listen to the song down below.
“5.17” will also be accompanied by a B-side entitled “That’s How Horses Are”, which will be released on April 3rd. This new tune was dropped without any warning or prior announcement, and comes ahead of the news that Yorke and Radiohead bandmate Jonny Greenwood had worked on music that would be featured on the final season of Peaky Blinders. The first episode of the new season aired on February 27th.
“5.17” is a slow burning ballad, driven by a lonesome piano that sits amongst a distant chatter of string instruments as Yorke’s signature mournful voice floats gently atop it. From listening to the track, its’ tentative and atmospheric nature makes it easy to see why it is being speculated to have been written for a soundtrack.
According to a recent interview with NME, Peaky Blinders director Anthony Byrne confirmed that Yorke and Greenwood had contributed to the soundtrack, saying: “Thom Yorke and Johnny Greenwood contributed some original stuff…“I’m over the moon about all of that. The music has always been really important historically, and I was really keen to bring a dramatic score into it. We’re using that much more in this season. It’s a much heavier season so the score is taking things in a very different direction…It’s always about Tommy and his headspace. That’s what I keep going back to.”
In other news regarding Thom Yorke’s musical endeavours, the revered singer recently formed a new band with Jonny Greenwood and Sons of Kemet’s Tom Skinner. The band has released two singles thus far, “You Will Never Work in Television Again” and “The Smoke”, which are available to listen to via streaming services. The band also released a remix of “The Smoke” by UK based reggae guitarist and producer Dennis Bovell.
The group also debuted new tracks at recent live performances, including three shows at Magazine London on the 29th and 30th of January, which were livestreamed and performed to a small in-person audience.
As for Radiohead, the legendary group recently released a B-Sides album entitled Kid A Mnesia, a record that compiles songs from the Kid A and Amnesiac era of Radiohead that did not quite make the cut.
