Thom Yorke sings on Björk's “Náttúra” after all

Thom Yorke's voice is on “Náttúra”, Björk's new benefit single, a blurred, ambient backing vocal behind hers, after Radiohead's management said he had recorded nothing new with her. Björk's camp announced the single on Friday with Yorke on backing vocals, and a spokesperson for her confirmed his part to Billboard, which allowed that it might be a sample or an older recording. The loudest thing in the track is the drumming of Brian Chippendale of Lightning Bolt.

Björk's publicist says Yorke's part was made by swapping files this summer, while she was touring Volta. It is the first time the two have recorded together since “I've Seen It All”, their duet on the soundtrack to Lars von Trier's Dancer in the Dark in 2000. Matthew Herbert plays bass and synthesiser, Mark Bell made the beats and Björk produced it. One Little Indian release it as an iTunes exclusive on 20 October, with a wider digital release a week later.

The song is sung in Icelandic, and its title means “nature”. It is named after Náttúra, a campaign to protect Iceland's wilderness from commercial exploitation, and the money it makes goes to the campaign. Björk has already played for it this summer, at a free concert in Reykjavík on 28 June with Sigur Rós, against the aluminium smelters spreading across Iceland.