Jack White

Following up the recent release of the music video for ‘Another Way To Die’, the title theme for Quantum of Solace, performers Jack White and Alicia Keys spoke about their inspirations for the song, creating the video, being apart of the world of James Bond and much more.

‘I’ve been an incredible fan of James Bond theme songs since I can remember.’ Referring to ‘Another Way To Die’ being the first 007 title theme to be a duet, White said: ‘It’s nice to be apart of that. It’s hard to have a first in a franchise that’s been going on for so long.’

He also had words of praise for Keys: ‘She’s incredibly soulful and powerful with her voice. And I think she takes a lot of chances too. She’s doesn’t do this cookie-cutter pop music, she puts things in her compositions that aren’t a safe way out. She’s taking contol and taking a chance and forcing things into her songs that wouldn’t normally be on the radio. And I like people like that.’

Talking about the music video, White said: ‘We saw some of the clips from the intro to the film and that’s what really inspired this video. When I saw that, I said to Alicia “I think we should get the guys who did that to produce this. It just has this vibe.’

Alicia Keys

‘It is special to be apart of the Bond world. It’s own world. It’s own universe. You know, it’s own planet. There’s Earth, there’s Mars, there’s Venus, there’s Bond.’ – Alicia Keys

He continues, speaking specifically about the song itself: ‘I was also a big fan of John Barry and all his compositions and Shirley Bassey. We kind of put it in our mind that if we’re going to do this, let’s join that world. Let’s aim for that. It’s a high bar. The bar was raised 30, 40 years ago so it’s tough to live up to that. I mean, you don’t try and top it, you try to get in that world somehow and join that family a little bit.’

‘I would say the Bond theme is totally throughout the song, but in a new way,’ Keys added. ‘There’s variations that you’ll hear, especially with the horns and the lines that the horns play, the piano, guitars… it’s all kind of themed around Bond, but in a slick style.’

Keys also gives fans their first clue of exactly when the main title sequence commences in Quantum of Solace: ‘I was telling Jack that I got a chance to see the movie a couple of days ago or so and the movie just starts–bang!–with this crazy car chase. And you’re like “what’s going on?”, you’re trying to catch up with the car, and it’s spinning out of control, and things are flying off the edges, bananas, and then [Bond] opens the trunk and the song starts and it’s crazy! I did start screaming in the theatre.’

The full line of ‘Another Way To Die’-related video interviews are available to view here.

Keep your eyes on the CommanderBond.net main page for most up-to-date and complete coverage of Quantum of Solace.