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Radiohead released their rejected James Bond theme song. It's gorgeous.

Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

Radiohead doesn't have a reputation as the world's jolliest band, but give them this: they know how to deliver a Christmas present.

"Last year we were asked to write a theme tune for the Bond movie Spectre," the band wrote on Soundcloud. "It didn’t work out, but became something of our own, which we love very much. As the year closes we thought you might like to hear it."

As the note suggests, this is more a Radiohead song than a James Bond theme song. But that's a good thing. As Sam Byford writes, the final cut is "very much in the vein of classic Radiohead piano ballads like 'Pyramid Song' and 'Videotape,' and does indeed feature Thom Yorke singing 'Spectrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre,'" — which is all any of us could have asked for.

The band doesn't go into any detail on why their song didn't make the movie, but Spectre was released with a Sam Smith song, which you can listen to here.

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