Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke on Tuesday announced his first film score as he put out an eerie first track to « Suspiria, » a horror movie rooted in modern dance.
Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke on Tuesday announced his first film score as he put out an eerie first track to « Suspiria, » a horror movie rooted in modern dance.
Yorke said he will release a 25-track album on October 26 to accompany « Suspiria, » which premiered last weekend at the Venice film festival.
Directed by Oscar nominee Luca Guadagnino, « Suspiria » stars « Fifty Shades of Grey » actress Dakota Johnson as a young American Amish woman who grows obsessed with a German modern dance group and eventually is pulled into a macabre witch cult.
Yorke on social media released a first track, « Suspirium, » whose gloomy and direct piano melody is in line with the Radiohead sound with a touch of minimalist composers such as Erik Satie.
The song, whose motif runs throughout the film, features Yorke singing in his signature falsetto.
« All is well as long as we keep spinning, » Yorke sings. « Only old songs and laughter we hear / Are forgiven always and never been true. »
The Oxford, England-based rock icon said he became fascinated by the use of repetition in film scores, which he found to be a kind of hypnotism.
« When I was working in my studio, I was making spells, » Yorke told reporters at the Venice festival.
« That sounds really stupid, but that’s how I was thinking about it. Because it was a sort of freedom I had not had before. »
Yorke has released two previous solo albums. His last, 2014’s « Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes, » was layered with electronic effects and lyricism about humanity’s relationship with technology, a common theme for Yorke.
« Suspiria » will see a traditional rollout on CDs, LPs and streaming and download services. Yorke put out « Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes » with no prior notice on the BitTorrent file-sharing service popular with music pirates, one of his attempts to experiment with self-releases.
