"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 The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note va ...

. The singer,

Thom Yorke Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician and the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. A multi-instrumentalist, he mainly plays guitar and keyboards and is noted for his falsetto. He has been descri ...

, 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). The Radiohead singer,

, first performed "Skrting on the Surface" in 2009 in a solo piano rendition while touring with his band

Atoms for Peace "Atoms for Peace" was the title of a speech delivered by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower to the UN General Assembly in New York City on December 8, 1953. The United States then launched an "Atoms for Peace" program that supplied equipment ...

. In 2012, Radiohead performed a different arrangement, which ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' described as "a bleak slow-groover". In 2021, Yorke and the Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood announced a new band, the Smile, with the drummer

Tom Skinner Sir Thomas Edward Skinner (18 April 1909 – 11 November 1991) was a New Zealand politician and Trades Union leader. Sir Tom served as President of the Auckland Trades Council from 1954 to 1976, and President of the New Zealand Federation of ...

. Skinner said "Skrting on the Surface" was one of the first songs they worked on, and developed from Greenwood's 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". The song was recorded by Radiohead's producer,

Nigel Godrich Nigel Timothy Godrich (born 28 February 1971) is an English record producer, recording engineer and musician. He is known for his work with the English rock band Radiohead, having produced all their studio albums since '' OK Computer'' (1997). ...

, in his studio in London. 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. The single was released on 17 March 2022.

Music video

The video for "Skrting on the Surface" was directed by

Mark Jenkin Mark Jenkin (born 1976) is a Cornish director, editor, screenwriter, cinematographer and producer. He wrote and directed the film '' Bait'' (2019), which earned him a BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer. ...

, who also directed the video for the Smile's previous single, "The Smoke". The video was shot on 16 mm film in the Rosevale Tin Mine in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, England. Water from the mine was used to develop the film by hand. The video was filmed during

Storm Eunice Storm Eunice () (known as Storm Zeynep in Germany and Storm Nora in Denmark) was an intense extratropical cyclone that was part of the 2021–2022 European windstorm season. Storm Eunice was named by the UK Met Office on 14 February 2022. A re ...

and

Storm Franklin A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm), ...

; the crew were "blissfully unaware" of the damage done by the storm while they worked underground.

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". The ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' journalist Daniel Kreps said Skinner's drumming and Greenwood's

arpeggios A broken chord is a chord broken into a sequence of notes. A broken chord may repeat some of the notes from the chord and span one or more octaves. An arpeggio () is a type of broken chord, in which the notes that compose a chord are played ...

gave the song "a technicolour makeover" in comparison to the earlier versions.

Track listing

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

Personnel

Credits adapted from album liner notes. The Smile *

- vocals, bass * Jonny Greenwood - guitar, bass *

- drums 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 Jason Yarde (born 1970) is an English jazz saxophonist, composer, arranger, producer and music director. He has worked with a wide range of artists and music ensembles, including Denys Baptiste, The Blind Boys Of Alabama, McCoy Tyner, Andrew Hil ...

– 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

2022 songs Songs written by Jonny Greenwood Songs written by Thom Yorke Song recordings produced by Nigel Godrich The Smile songs {{The Smile