Radiohead were inspired to write "Bloom" for their 2011 The King of Limbs LP after watching the 2001 documentary series The Blue Planet — so it's only fitting that the song's been reworked for the upcoming Blue Planet II.

Frontman Thom Yorke premiered the new orchestral version of the track, titled "Ocean (Bloom)," during a recent appearance on BBC Radio 6. Created in collaboration with composer Hans Zimmer, the song features new vocals from Yorke; in addition to its use in the series, it's set to be featured in a short prequel film that will run alongside Blue Planet II when it makes its world premiere at London's BFI IMAX theater on Sept. 27.

As Yorke explained during his BBC Radio 6 visit, his interest in the Blue Planet series — and environmental activism in general — stems from a late night on the sofa with his young son, who'd been having trouble sleeping. Fascinated and moved by the show's exploration of parts of the planet people have always known very little about, he later found himself further spurred to action by his son's youthful idealism.

"Blue Planet – the original series – was probably the thing, first it turned on my son to the whole thing, and he became obsessed," said Yorke. Then a letter from Greenpeace came through about something or other to the house, and he started reading it and said ‘Dad, can we get involved in this?' ... So then we established links with Greenpeace. Anyway, I got involved in all this stuff over the years, and it started with being half asleep on the sofa watching Blue Planet!"

Learn more about Blue Planet II at the BBC Earth website, and listen to "Ocean (Bloom)" with the rest of Yorke's BBC Radio 6 appearance at this link.

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