Skrting on the Surface
"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 their debut album, "A Light for Attracting Attention". History. Variations on the title phrase appeared on the Radiohead website around the time of their album "OK Computer" (1997). Singer Thom Yorke first performed "Skrting on the Surface" in 2009 in a solo piano rendition while touring with his band Atoms for Peace. In 2012, he and Radiohead performed a different arrangement, described by "Pitchfork" as "a bleak slow-groover". In  2021, Yorke and Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood announced a new band, the Smile, with drummer Tom Skinner. 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 "air of spontaneity". The song was recorded by Nigel Godrich in his studio in London. The Smile debuted their version of the song, then titled "Skating on the Surface", in a surprise performance for "Live at Worthy Farm", a live video produced  by Glastonbury Festival and 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, 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, England. Water from the mine was used to develop the film by hand. The video was filmed during Storm Eunice and Storm Franklin; 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". "Rolling Stone" journalist Daniel Kreps said Skinner's drumming and Greenwood's arpeggios gave the song "a technicolour makeover" in comparison to previous 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 "NPR", Spotify, and Tom Skinner's Twitter. Performers Production Additional performers