Thom Yorke has unveiled a previously unheard solo track called 'Space Walk' during a ceremony at which he was presented with the Academy Fellowship at the 71st Ivor Novello Awards.
Held at
Grosvenor House in London, the event saw Harry Styles welcome the
Radiohead frontman to the stage. Introducing him, Styles labelled Radiohead his "favourite band", referenced the group's "enduring influence on British music" and admitted he "lost [his] virginity to 'Talk Show Host'".
For his performance, Yorke delivered the piano-led 'Space Walk' before turning to an acoustic version of '
Jigsaw Falling Into Place', taken from Radiohead's '
In Rainbows'. The lyrics of the new composition included the lines: "In these moments, when you float/ A choice that is no choice at all/ Soon you'll be high above the Earth/ But today will be along soon."
The airing of 'Space Walk' arrives in the wake of Radiohead guitarist Ed O'Brien's recent comments that Yorke has "got a solo album that's going to come out later in the year".
Opening his speech, Yorke suggested that being honoured was "probably a mistake", before pointing to the work of his collaborators – among them Nigel Godrich, Jonny Greenwood, The Smile's Tom Skinner and artist Stanley Donwood – and stressing that he is "not a solo artist".
"When I'm on my own, I go around in circles," he said. "The people I work with, their creative relationship, I regard as something very precious and very fragile, and I have nothing but the utmost respect for them."
After dedicating the award to his wife and children, Yorke moved on to a prepared statement directed at the upper tiers of the music business and the streaming sector, cautioning that "the industry will die" should they continue to "devalue the next generation of artists and their fans".
His full speech read: "To me, every generation has the God-given right to rebel and thumb their nose at the business, and prove everyone wrong. To use music and song to tell the story of what it truly means to grow up in their mode, and go stylistically wherever the fuck they want, because they can. This is the pumping heart of music. This is how music stays relevant.
"For this to happen, the industry itself has to have faith in these people. They're fragile, usually kind of fucked up like me, and they need support. And the industry needs the wisdom to allow them to develop, and be able to take risks with them and make mistakes with them. That is literally their job, in my opinion.
"I'm very aware, and so are my band, [of] how lucky we were in our formative years, thanks to our managers Brian, Chris, Bryce and Jules. They fought really hard for us guys. And weirdly, our old record company, the old school EMI, cut us a lot of slack back in the old days. It all paid off.
"We watched a lot of other artists not be so lucky, get chewed up and spat out. It takes time for artists to find their voice, to learn their craft and where it will take them. That is when the good shit occurs.
"I worry that our business is becoming risk-averse and unable to help. It makes zero sense to me. The same is true in a lot of the creative industries: art, film, theatre – they're all going through this weird, myopic self-destruction.
"Instead, I picked up the FT [Financial Times] and read about the exciting share price of streaming services and the insane value placed on the catalogues of a few artists of the previous generation, and the financial frenzy around them.
"That's nice for them. But it is not, as they would like to call it, investment in the music sector. Quite the opposite.
"I wonder if those people appreciate what went into the making of those records. Maybe you should read some biographies of the music you're buying and hoarding, and some of the history about that subject.
"I wonder why no one questions this insane flow of money upwards that leaves nothing but dust for new artists.
"Those heads of our industry are not asking what happens for the future generation, when the musical well dries up – which it will, guys.
"Instead, a lot of lip service is paid to new music with self-serving playlists, and to the idea of a vital music scene. But there is a refusal to offer even a semblance of a sustainable revenue source for the majority of musicians.
"And they continue the nasty fucking opaque accounting tricks that major labels were doing in the '90s.
"So I guess I'd like to provide a quick reminder to the top of the industry and streaming services: pull your finger out. Where are you gonna get your next juicy back catalogues from, eh?
"This industry will die and arseholes with it, if all you do is devalue the next generation of artists and their fans. Just remember: without us, you ain't shit!"
The Academy Fellowship was also presented posthumously to George Michael, whose statue was accepted on his behalf by former Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley. Past recipients of the honour include Paul McCartney, Kate Bush, U2 and Bruce Springsteen.
Elsewhere on the night, accolades went to Sam Fender, Rosalía, CMAT, Lily Allen, Jacob Alon, Lola Young and Kano. The nominee list also featured Coldplay, Wolf Alice, Olivia Dean, Little Simz and Florence Welch.
