After months of fevered speculation about who will provide the theme song for the latest James Bond installment, Spectre, Grammy-winning British torch singer Sam Smith left a tantalizing clue on his Instagram and Twitter feeds Monday.
Presented without comment, the black and white photograph is of a hand — presumably Smith’s — wearing a ring with a small, discrete octopus logo. As any 007 completist can tell you, the many tentacled sea creature appears on insignia rings for members of the nefarious criminal organization SPECTRE — full name Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion — dating back to the 1962 Bond film Dr. No. Moreover, the octopus has been a key part of the promo push for Spectre (due in theaters Nov. 6), appearing on a teaser poster for the Sam Mendes-directed film as far back as December.
In recent months, handicapping who would follow up Adele’s Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning single Skyfall (from 2012’s Bond blockbuster of the same name) became a favorite parlor game for cineastes worldwide. Speculation centered around such singers as Ed Sheeran, Ellie Goulding, Lorde, and Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke (as well as Adele herself). But as recently as July, British bookmakers had Smith as the theme-song frontrunner.
If the “Stay With Me” singer is indeed the man responsible for the new Bond theme, he will follow in an illustrious pantheon of pop performers that includes Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey, Paul McCartney, Duran Duran, Carly Simon and, more recently, Jack White and Alicia Keys whose songs back-dropped the films’ opening credits to become indelible cultural artifacts on their own merits.
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