UPDATE (9/25): Right on time, Sam Smith’s Bond theme music has arrived and you can stream it now on Spotify or purchase it on iTunes. Generally, “Writing’s On The Wall” is being greeted with polarizing reviews. It’s a beautiful song, no doubt about that; Smith’s falsetto paired with the track’s cinematic strings is mesmerizing. The song, however, fails to provide its anticipated “drop” and it doesn’t boast the signature Bond boldness audiences have become accustomed to. It’s unapologetically a different kind of Bond theme, a soft ballad focused on delicate nuance. Me? I appreciate it and enjoy it, and I think it’s going to work well in SPECTRE, a Bond movie that aims to get personal and introspective. Take a listen. What do you think?
PREVIOUS (9/8): Adele. Jack White. Madonna. Sheryl Crow. Tina Turner. Gladys Knight. Duran Duran. Paul McCartney. What do all of these musicians have in common? Answer: Each of them have performed a James Bond theme song. Today, a new name gets added to the list. Rising crooner Sam Smith, who released his Grammy award-winning debut album In the Lonely Hour just last year, has been selected to sing the theme song for the upcoming 24th Bond film, SPECTRE. He’s the first British male solo artist since 1965 (Tom Jones, Thunderball) to record a Bond theme song.
Smith’s name had been rumored pool of artists to tackle the track, along with Ellie Goulding. But just last week when BBC Radio 2 asked the 23-year-old singer if he was secretly working on it behind closed doors, he shut it down. “That’s not me. That’s definitely not me,” he said. Lies! …I’m sure he was sworn to such secrecy. And then, early yesterday morning, Smith posted to Instagram an image with no caption–he’s wearing a ring with the infamous SPECTRE logo etched on it. The cat was out of the bag, and the very next day the announcement was made official.
The name of the track is “Writing’s On The Wall” and its written by Smith and Jimmy Napes. If you’ve been following Smith’s career so far, then the Napes name should ring a bell. The Grammy-winning producer assisted Smith with writing many songs from Lonely Hour including the popular single “Stay with Me.” Napes was also there during Smith’s Nirvana EP days, and he was also commissioned by Disclosure to co-write the Sam Smith-assisted hit “Latch.” Speaking of Disclosure, the English electronic brothers disclosed on Twitter that they, too, had a hand in producing “Writing’s On The Wall.” Full circle, indeed.
With permission granted, Smith hopped back onto Instagram to reveal the track artwork (see above) and share this message with his fans: “This is one of the highlights of my career. I am honoured to finally announce that I will be singing the next Bond theme song. I am so excited to be a part of this iconic British legacy and join an incredible line up of some of my biggest musical inspirations. I hope you all enjoy the song as much as I enjoyed making it. You can pre-order ‘Writing’s On The Wall’ on CD or vinyl using the link on my profile, or on iTunes from midnight.”
SPECTRE producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli added, “Sam and Jimmy have written the most inspirational song for Spectre and with Sam’s extraordinary vocal performance, ‘Writing’s On The Wall’ will surely be considered one of the greatest Bond songs of all time.”
The countdown is on; “Writing’s On The Wall” drops September 25. CD and vinyl singles can be preordered here. As soon as it releases, I’ll amend this post to include the highly anticipated track. SPECTRE hits theatres November 6.
[Via 007]