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Before you lay eyes on the fiery first scene of Apple TV+‘s new series, Smoke, an eerie opening credits sequence accompanied by Thom Yorke’s emotive voice makes damn sure the mood is set.
The drama, inspired by true events, follows a police detective (Jurnee Smollett) and an arson investigator (Taron Egerton) who team up to track down two serial arsonists. The series is packed with jaw-dropping twists, dark reveals, and deep looks into the human psyche. So creator, writer, and EP Dennis Lehane knew its intro had to strike all the right chords. Enter Thom Yorke, who wrote and performed Smoke‘s main title theme, “Dialing In.”
“You’re going to see this look of awe on my face. It turned out that Thom Yorke, who was, as a man of my generation, an idol to me, was a huge fan of Black Bird,” Lehane (with a look of awe on his face) told Decider over Zoom. “I was floored. And he let it be known he’d be open to working with me. So we went running to him for this.”
In terms of collaborating with the songwriter and Radiohead frontman, Lehane said that he was extremely dialed in (sorry) to specific elements of Smoke that he hoped Yorke could capture. “I told him that I wanted the song to represent a sub-theme of the show, which is, not only do we lie to ourselves all the time — which we do — but we’re being lied to by all the pillars of our society on a regular basis. And that’s what’s causing so much of the chaos — that nobody knows what to believe anymore. There’s no facts left anymore. We’re just being lied and lied to and lied to,” Lehane explained.
As Smoke‘s main title sequence introduces crucial pieces of evidence, flames, and other meaningful images related to the series, Yorke’s soul-stirring vocals and purposive lyrics create a haunting energy atop each installment.
While Smoke‘s episode intros last around 1:30, Yorke shared his full song with extended visuals on YouTube, along with the lyrics for “Dialing In”:
Telephone calling me / Who put all that shit in your head? / Saying things telling things ’til you break / Filthy water bubbles up / Who put all that shit in your head? / Dialing in, half asleep, half awake / Let the demons out your head / Let the demons out your head / How they sing, how they stare, how they gawp / We would like some privacy / Strangled roots have become trees / How they sing, how they stare, how they gawp / Like leaves in the trees ….
When further reflecting on the collaboration, Lehane noted one line in particular that stands out in his mind. “‘Who put all that shit in your head?’ is one of the lines of the song that recurs. And Tom just crushed it,” the Smoke creator gushed. “Then, the most surreal moment of my life was when they asked me to give him notes. I was like, ‘I’m not gonna give Thom Yorke notes on a song! My note is: ‘Wow, that’s awesome!’ Like, done!”
As Smoke heats up over the course of its nine-part season, Yorke’s vocals and those deep “Dialing In” lyrics grow increasingly more impactful, so the main title theme is gets a “10/10. No notes!” from us, as well.
Buckle up, Smoke fans. You’re in for a wild ride. And if you want get the full effect of the series, don’t you date don’t skip that intro.
New episodes of Smoke premiere Fridays on Apple TV+.
English (US)