The Pretenders – “I Think About You Daily” (Feat. Jonny Greenwood)
Later this year, Chrissie Hynde’s legendary rock ‘n’ roll institution the Pretenders will release the new album Relentless. We’ve already posted first single “Let The Sun Come In,” and now the band has shared the song’s grand closing track, which features some help from an unexpected collaborator. The regretful ballad “I Think About You Daily” has a string arrangement from Radiohead multi-instrumentalist and film composer Johny Greenwood, who also conducted the 12 Ensemble in the recording session.
“I Think About You Daily” is a slow, vulnerable song. Chrissie Hyde sings about looking back, late in life, and thinking about how she didn’t treat someone very well: “Now each morning when I wake up, it’s you that’s on my mind/ You never can get over losing those you did unkind.” Greenwood’s strings swirl around her voice, and they almost sound like they’re consoling her.
In a press release, Hynde talked about working with Greenwood:
I met Jonny a couple of times, and we’re obviously big fans of him because he’s done some incredible music over the years. I saw him at the Phantom Thread premiere, where the film was running onscreen with a live orchestra playing. And we spoke afterward and he expressed an interest in doing something one day. I was thrilled and very surprised. He also came down to see a Valve Bone Woe show we were doing in the basement of a Pizza Express. So when we discussed the idea of getting strings on “I Think About You Daily,” he was the first choice. Legend!
Heres’s what Greenwood says about it:
It was a genuine honor to score strings for Chrissie. The arrangement wrote itself because of that voice. She’s one of the greatest singers in popular music, and her continuing passion for creation was an inspiring experience from first the email to the last note of the recording.
Listen to “I Think About You Daily” below.
Relentless is out 9/1 on Warner Music Group.