Radiohead and Hans Zimmer announce musical collaboration for Blue Planet II
Radiohead have dived in to the soundtrack for David Attenborough's BBC1 natural history series
Radiohead have teamed up with legendary film composer Hans Zimmer to work on the soundtrack for David Attenborough's much-anticipated Blue Planet II.
What music will swell in the background as a killer whale hunts down a seal? What will we hear as a jellyfish drifts along in the depths? It could be something quite unusual.
Radiohead and Hans Zimmer have recorded an "orchestrally reimagined version" of the song Bloom, BBC Worldwide has revealed. The song comes from 2011 Radiohead album The King of Limbs and takes the "sounds and musical palette" of Blue Planet II as its inspiration.
In case you were wondering what the track will be called, it's "(ocean) bloom". Punny.
Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke explained: “Bloom was inspired by the original Blue Planet series so it’s great to be able to come full circle with the song and reimagine it for this incredible landmark’s sequel.
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"Hans is a prodigious composer who effortlessly straddles several musical genres so it was liberating for us all to work with such a talent and see how he wove the sound of the series and Bloom together.”
This unusual collaboration between a popular rock band and a top film score composer has, luckily, taken place under the watchful eye of the experts. The producer is Russell Emanuel of Bleeding Fingers Music - the company behind the Bafta and Emmy-nominated score to Attenborough's recent natural history epic, Planet Earth II.
What will it sound like? We'll get our first idea at midday on 27th September, when a special five-minute video will be released.
This first look at the show will feature some of the most exciting and awe-inspiring shots from the upcoming series, as well as a bunch of "exclusive scenes" that will not feature in the actual show.
As a whole, Blue Planet II will be scored by Hans Zimmer, Jacob Shea and Dave Fleming.
Zimmer said: "Bloom appears to have been written ahead of its time as it beautifully reflects the jaw-dropping lifeforms and seascapes viewers are introduced to in Blue Planet II. Working with Thom, Jonny and the boys has been a wonderful diversion and it’s given me an interesting peek into their musical world. They’ve been incredible to work with and I hope everyone likes the track."
Blue Planet II will air later this year on BBC1
