Thom Yorke says he turned down the Fight Club score

Thom Yorke was asked to score Fight Club after Radiohead finished OK Computer, and said no because he was worn out. He told BBC Radio 6 Music on Wednesday 3 October that he was sent the script, and that Edward Norton and Brad Pitt wrote to him.

The one I remember is one from years ago after we'd finished OK Computer and I was completely gaga

Thom Yorke³

He still thinks about it, he said, whenever he sees the film.

Yorke was in the studio on the morning “Has Ended” came out, the second piece from his score for Luca Guadagnino's Suspiria, his first film score. The soundtrack, 25 original pieces, is out on XL Recordings on 26 October.

The day before, he had posted lines from the song on Twitter, and was asked about them. Yorke had been watching the Conservative party conference, and he mimicked its slogans of unity and opportunity for all before calling it Orwell's “ignorance is strength”.

He recalled telling Theresa May from the Glastonbury stage last year to shut the door on her way out. Everyone thought that was the end of it, he said, and yet the government is still there, treating people like lemmings running off a cliff. What frightens him is not whether letters fall off the back of May's conference speech, or whether Boris Johnson falls off his bike.

The bigger picture is that it doesn’t seem to matter.

Thom Yorke²

The EU and people in Ireland call the Brexit plan unacceptable, he said.

And yet no one does anything – why aren’t we in the streets?

Thom Yorke²

On Suspiria itself, he said the stranger modern composers and horror films have a lot in common. He improvised the words knowing which scenes the pieces would sit under.

Using a studio…using sound to upset and mess with people’s heads and generally make you feel ill. That’s my idea of a good time, listening-wise.

Thom Yorke¹