Last Summer, out of the blue, Radiohead became a front-runner to be the musician(s) picked to perform the theme for the then-upcoming James Bond film, SPECTRE.

As we all know, the final nod went to fellow Brit Sam Smith…but what if Radiohead really was in the mix? Could such a thing exist? A Radiohead performed James Bond theme?

On Christmas, we found out it was indeed true.

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke took to Twitter on Christmas with a special gift for fans of both the rock band and the super spy, linking to a free download of “Spectre” hosted on Soundcloud, their unused theme song.

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Sounding about exactly as you’d expect from a Radiohead James Bond theme, it’s equally sad and bombastic…and personally, I prefer it to Sam Smith’s theme, even if Smith’s sounds more “Bond-y”.

That said, the Radiohead version DOES sync up pretty great with the opening credits of the film.

www.youtube.com/watch

SPECTRE is still in theaters now. Radiohead is currently working on their ninth album, with no release date announced.