Though he's a young English musician who grew up in the heyday of Radiohead, the greatest modern English rock band, Sam Smith says he's never heard of the group's iconic singer Thom Yorke. He also has never heard Radiohead's "Spectre," which was rejected as the last Bond theme in favor of Smith's Oscar-winning "Writing on the Wall." Yes, it's certainly a weird relationship.
To confuse the situation even more, Radiohead fans are convinced that Smith ripped off the band on a track from his new album. As Stereogum writes, Smith's "Midnight Train" "mercilessly rips off" Radiohead's classic "Creep." "It has the same rhythm, the same basic chord structure, the same verse-to-chorus dynamics, and even a similar tremolo-laden guitar pattern," according to Stereogum's Chris DeVille. The L.A. Times also pointed out the similarity, writing the song "strongly recalls" "Creep." Pitchfork also noted that "Midnight Train" "sounds a little—OK, a lot—like a slow-motion version" of the Radiohead song.
In 2015, Tom Petty was awarded song writing credit and royalties for Sam Smith's "Stay With Me" after the two settled out of court for the song's similarities to "I Won't Back Down." Anyway, listen for yourself below.
