Radiohead blessed and surprised hungry fans this week with the long-awaited release of a new single, Burn The Witch. The single will be released as a 7″ on May 16, with Spectre as its B-side. Spectre was released on Christmas last year, having originally been recorded as a potential theme song for the new James Bond film of the same name.
According to Bull Moose (via Pitchfork), the 7″ will only be available for physical purchase in actual stores – exclusively independent stores, for the record.
Burn The Witch came out this week after Radiohead deleted their entire online presence, amidst dropping a series of cryptic clues that we now know to have been about the song, including fliers sent out emblazoned with the words BURN THE WITCH, and two mysterious videos on social media. The song was released as a video, which some are saying is a message about Islamophobia and the European refugee crisis.
The release this week was particularly interesting, considering frontman Thom Yorke’s longstanding hatred of streaming platforms like YouTube and Spotify. He had previously gone so far as to liken them to Nazis. Despite this, the track and video were made immediately available on both platforms.
We currently have no further information on the album, other than we reckon it will be called Dawn Chorus. Nevertheless, stay tuned and we’ll update you the instant we know any more details about their upcoming ninth record, which will be their first since King of Limbs in 2011.
Image: Radiohead / Youtube