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Thom Yorke plays new song ‘Villain’ during Rag & Bone’s NYFW show

Thom Yorke debuted a new song "Villain" during New York Fashion Week.
Thom Yorke debuted a new song “Villain” during New York Fashion Week.
(Arkasha Stevenson / Los Angeles Times)
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When Thom Yorke shows up at New York Fashion Week, it’s good odds that he’ll be toting new music with him.

The Radiohead frontman has provided soundtrack work to the line Rag & Bone at two past shows in 2011 and 2013. Now he’s followed that up with the debut of a new solo song during the line’s NYFW show this week.

The single “Villain” is a spooky, disorienting ballad that starts with one of Yorke’s crescendoing piano lines. It’s a little loose and off-center, but when 12 members of the Brooklyn Youth Chorus chime in with eerie falsettos, the song becomes much, much bigger.

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Four minutes in, the song transforms again with a stuttering, jacking house beat that gives a whole new urgency to its obsidian moods. Finally, it sounds like something for a fashion runway -- but maybe for a collection of future funeral wear.

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For Radiohead completists, it’s a convincing mix of Yorke’s anxious electronic work with Atoms For Peace and Radiohead’s moodier moments. Listen to it here, and let it tide you over until at least the Jonny Greenwood documentary comes out.

Follow @AugustBrown for breaking music news.

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