Radiohead and Hans Zimmer will team up on a track for “Planet Earth: Blue Planet II,” the BBC announced on Thursday.
The acclaimed rock band and composer will team up to record a reimagined version of the 2011 Radiohead song “(ocean) bloom” with the BBC Concert Orchestra. The track is a fitting choice, given that the song was inspired by the original 2001 “Blue Planet” series.
The collaboration, produced by Russell Emanuel of Bleeding Fingers Music, will premiere in a prequel to the nature documentary series set to be released on Sept. 27.
“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,” Radiohead’s Thom Yorke said in a statement. “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.”
“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,’” added Zimmer. “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.”
The seven-episode run of “Planet Earth: Blue Planet II” is slated to air on BBC America in early 2018. The series is executive produced by James Honeyborne, series produced by Mark Brownlow and commissioned by Charlotte Moore and Tom McDonald.