It's official: Sam Smith will sing the next Bond song for Spectre

The name’s Smith, Sam Smith.

After pretty much every successful British artist photographed in the vicinity of a recording studio had been linked to the job, it’s now official: Sam Smith will be singing the soundtrack to James Bond’s 24th adventure, Spectre.

Co-written with fellow Grammy winner Jimmy Napes, the track is called Writing’s On The Wall - an apt title considering the news was all but confirmed yesterday when the singer Tweeted a ‘mysterious’ image of a ring bearing the logo of that shadowy cabal from the film - and is due for release on 25 September.

Grammy winner Smith will become the first British male solo artist to sing the Bond theme since 1965, and naturally was quite perky about it all: "This is one of the highlights of my career. I am honoured to finally announce that I will be singing the next Bond theme song. I am so excited to be a part of this iconic British legacy and join an incredible line up of some of my biggest musical inspirations. I hope you all enjoy the song as much as I enjoyed making it."

He’ll have some big shoes to fill, given Adele’s Skyfall theme won a Golden Globe, an Oscar and other sizeable awards, but of course with five No.1 UK singles, four Grammys, three Brit Awards, six MOBO Awards, Q and AMA Awards, we’re quietly confident he’ll stand up well.

As do Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, producers of the new film, who said in a statement: "Sam and Jimmy have written the most inspirational song for Spectre and with Sam’s extraordinary vocal performance, Writing’s On The Wall will surely be considered one of the greatest Bond songs of all time."

You could say he has a licence to shrill.

SPECTRE is set for release in the UK on 26 October and in the US on 6 November