The cat, is officially out of the bag. After all but confirming the scoop in words yesterday, Sam Smith has officially been named as the vocalist behind the pre-credits single for Spectre. Cheers and boos aside, it’s now time to focus on when we’ll get to hear this brand new track, and as luck would have it, the news was broken today – the single is set to drop on September 25th.
What The Verge failed to mention in their coverage for the announcement of the new track, titled "Writing’s On The Wall," is the fact that the Spectre theme tune will be released almost a month later in the U.S., with the CD and Vinyl singles currently listed as being shipped on October 23rd for those of us in the States. The timing seems to be in sync with the respective release dates of both countries, though U.S. audiences only have to wait two weeks between single and screen, versus a whole month for UK audiences.
Of course, some may still be surprised that Sam Smith was the one to win the Spectre gig after all – especially considering that an enormous anonymous bet was placed on dark horse candidate Radiohead. While it wasn’t an official word from the studio, past history has shown that if the betting money swings a certain way in a field of speculation such as this, it’s a good chance that the money is right. Except when it isn’t, which is of course the lament of whomever placed that $23,000 bet at William Hill.
"Writing’s On The Wall" is actually a history maker, as it’s the first Bond theme to have a British male solo vocalist performing it since 1965, the last being Tom Jones’ Thunderball 50 years ago. As if that wasn’t enough pressure on the up-and-coming Grammy winner, he also competes with the fact that Adele’s track for the previous film, Skyfall, was the first to win an Academy Award for the franchise that identifies with its music as much as it does with its action. Still, Sam Smith doesn’t seem too daunted, considering he reportedly wrote his song in 20 minutes after reading the script. So there’s a good shot that something inspired him to knock this one out of the park.
Haven't heard Sam Smith sing before? Here he is doing "Stay With Me" on a recent episode of Saturday Night Live:
It must not be easy news for die hard Bond fans, as Sam Smith’s usually somber songs of relationship problems and insecurities are not exactly the sort of thing that you’d expect from a Bond title sequence. But then again,Spectre has invoked the memory of the franchise’s past – most specifically the theme tune to On Her Majesty’s Secret Service - in recent promotional materials; so when you look at things from that angle, "Writing’s On The Wall" might fit closer than most would think.
"Writing’s On The Wall" drops on September 25th in the UK, October 23rd in the U.S., and will probably wind up on YouTube in between that time frame. Spectre will be in theaters on October in the UK and November 6th in the U.S.
