Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke and Red Hot Chili’s bassist Flea have teamed up once again for the waltz track “Daily Battles,” which is set to appear on the soundtrack for Edward Norton’s upcoming film Motherless Brooklyn. legendary jazz trump player Wynton Marsalis has also recorded a version of the song for the soundtrack.
Flea plays trumped on Yorke’s version of “Daily Battles,” while Yorke performs the vocals and piano for the somber waltz. The lyrics discuss anxiety for modern life, while also working well for the setting of this upcoming film which explores 1950s Brooklyn.
“To have [Yorke] write a song for the movie in response to absorbing what the movie and the character are aiming at is a very different thing,” Nortonexplained in a Rolling Stone interview. “It’s… like Lady Gaga, what those guys did with ‘Shallow’ in [A Star Is Born], that’s a stunning song that rises up in the film and out of the film. It rises organically out of the story of the film and it gives you shivers, it’s really a special thing when that happens.”
Marsalis’ jazz version of the song is entirely instrumental, and features a more modal sound which keeps the somber tone of Yorke’s recording. Other artists such as Joe Farnsworth, Russell Hall, Isaiah J. Thompson and Jerry Weldon accompanied Masalis on this version of the track.
Both Flea and Yorke are members of the supergroup Atoms For Peace. Last December, Flea and fellow Atoms For Peace Member Joey Waronker Joined Yorke and Nigel Goodrich on stage for a performance of their famous self-titled track.
Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat