"Skrting on the Surface"
Single by the Smile
from the album A Light for Attracting Attention
Released17 March 2022
GenreAlternative rock
Length5:31
LabelXL
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Nigel Godrich
The Smile singles chronology
"The Smoke"
(2022)		 "Skrting on the Surface"
(2022)		 "Pana-vision"
(2022)
Music video
"Skrting on the Surface" on YouTube

"Skrting on the Surface" is a song by the English rock band the Smile. It was released on 17 March 2022 as the third single from the Smile's debut album, A Light for Attracting Attention. It features guitar arpeggios in the time signature 11
8. The singer, Thom Yorke, and the guitarist, Jonny Greenwood, developed it from an earlier unreleased song by their band Radiohead.

History

Variations on the title phrase appeared on the Radiohead website around the time of their album OK Computer (1997).[1] The Radiohead singer, Thom Yorke, first performed "Skrting on the Surface" in 2009 in a solo piano rendition while touring with his band Atoms for Peace.[2] In 2012, Radiohead performed a different arrangement, which Pitchfork described as "a bleak slow-groover".[1]

In 2021, Yorke and the Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood announced a new band, the Smile, with the drummer Tom Skinner.[3] Skinner said "Skrting on the Surface" was one of the first songs they worked on, and developed from Greenwood's 11
8 guitar line; Yorke realised that the earlier song "fit perfectly on top". Skinner recorded his drums in a single take, creating an "air of spontaneity".[4] The song was recorded by Radiohead's producer, Nigel Godrich, in his studio in London.[4]

The Smile debuted "Skrting on the Surface", then titled "Skating on the Surface", in a surprise performance for Live at Worthy Farm, a live video produced by Glastonbury Festival streamed on May 22, 2021.[5] The single was released on 17 March 2022.[6]

Music video

The video for "Skrting on the Surface" was directed by Mark Jenkin, who also directed the video for the Smile's previous single, "The Smoke".[7][8] The video was shot on 16 mm film in the Rosevale Tin Mine in Cornwall, England. Water from the mine was used to develop the film by hand.[9] The video was filmed during Storm Eunice and Storm Franklin; the crew were "blissfully unaware" of the damage done by the storm while they worked underground.[10]

Reception

The Fader journalist Jordan Darville called the song "an unabashed channeling of what has made Greenwood and Yorke's creative partnership so successful over the course of many decades".[7] The Rolling Stone journalist Daniel Kreps said Skinner's drumming and Greenwood's arpeggios gave the song "a technicolour makeover" in comparison to the earlier versions.[9]

Track listing

The song, on specific streaming services and digital storefronts, also contains the two previously released singles from the band:

No.TitleLength
1."Skrting on the Surface"5:31
2."The Smoke"3:39
3."You Will Never Work in Television Again"2:48

Personnel

Credits adapted from album liner notes.[11]

The Smile

Production

Additional musicians

  • London Contemporary Orchestra
    • Hugh Brunt – orchestration
    • Eloisa-Fleur Thom – violin
    • Alessandro Ruisi – violin
    • Zara Benyounes – violin
    • Sophie Mather – violin
    • Agata Daraskaite – violin
    • Charlotte Bonneton – violin
    • Zoe Matthews – viola
    • Clifton Harrison – viola
    • Oliver Coates – cello
    • Max Ruisi – cello
    • Clare O’Connell – cello
  • Jason Yarde – saxophone
  • Robert Stillman – saxophone
  • Chelsea Carmichael – flute
  • Nathaniel Cross – trombone
  • Byron Wallen – trumpet
  • Theon Cross – tuba
  • Tom Herbert – double bass
  • Dave Brown – double bass

References

  1. 1 2 Hogan, Marc (4 March 2016). "19 unreleased Radiohead songs that could be on their next album". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  2. ↑ Young, Alex (21 July 2014). "Hear 12 potential songs for Radiohead's new album". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on 2 May 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  3. ↑ Savage, Mark (22 May 2021). "The Smile: Radiohead stars to debut new band at Glastonbury live-stream". BBC News. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  4. 1 2 Boilen, Bob (22 March 2022). "New mix: Arcade Fire, Valerie June, the Smile, Andrew Bird, more". All Songs Considered (Podcast). NPR. Event occurs at 19:37. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  5. ↑ Kreps, Daniel (23 May 2021). "See Radiohead side project the Smile perform new song 'We Don't Know What Tomorrow Brings'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  6. ↑ Brodsky, Rachel (17 March 2022). "The Smile – "Skrting On The Surface"". Stereogum. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  7. 1 2 Darville, Jordan (17 March 2022). "The Smile share new song/video 'Skrting On The Surface'". The Fader. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  8. ↑ Childers, Chad (27 January 2022). "Thom Yorke + Jonny Greenwood Reveal The Smile's Second Single 'The Smoke'". Loudwire. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  9. 1 2 Kreps, Daniel (17 March 2022). "The Smile unearth unreleased Radiohead gem 'Skrting on the Surface' for new single". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  10. ↑ Edwards, Danny (18 March 2022). "Mark Jenkin mines promo gold for Thom Yorke". Shots. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  11. ↑ A Light for Attracting Attention (liner notes). The Smile. London, England: XL Recordings. 2022. FXL1196LP.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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