This November, Edward Norton will unveil his long-gestating film adaptation of Jonathan Lethem’s novel Motherless Brooklyn, about a private detective with Tourette’s Syndrome. In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Norton shared some insight into the creative process behind the new movie, and teased a contribution from none other than Thom Yorke.
According to Norton, Yorke wrote an original song for the film titled “Daily Battles,” which was recorded by both Yorke and jazz legend Wynton Marsalis. Both versions will be released ahead of the Motherless Brooklyn premiere.
“He sent me this track of him on a piano singing it and I was sitting on the edge of my bed in the dark, crying from listening to this song,” said Norton of his correspondence with Yorke. “It’s so instantly heartbreaking and evocative of so many of the themes to the movie without being overly specific to them, but so much so, I thought the idea of daily battles that everyone is fighting, that you’re trying to rise up and out of, was so evocative that I went back into the script and put the phrase into a scene.”
Norton also said that Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea plays on Yorke’s version of the track.
Check out the full interview with Rolling Stone here, and revisit our review of Thom Yorke’s latest solo effort ANIMA.
