Radiohead release new single as free download

Radiohead fans are speculating that the band could release a new digital EP as early as today, after a track by the group was leaked online last week.

The song, These Are My Twisted Words was posted on the filesharing site What.cd last Wednesday as well as the Radiohead fansite At Ease. The At Ease forum appeared to have crashed on Monday morning after fans logged on to see if the EP was available yet.

The MP3 file had references to a mysterious 'Wall of Ice', which according to At Ease is the name of a forthcoming EP, possibly due out on August 17, the release date listed in the info file. A poem which accompanied the song is typically cryptic. One verse reads: "i just wanted to reassure readers/that following representations/seeking confirmation/that before your very eyes/behind the wall of ice/that the box is not under threat/however they are set to remove/other boxes".

Fans are now speculating that Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke leaked the single himself. In February the singer hinted that the band planned to forego the album format in future and had a "good plan" for releasing new singles and EPs. "We've got this great idea for putting things out," Yorke (pictured) told The Believer magazine, adding, "but I can't tell you what it is, because someone will rip it off."

On Monday fellow band member Jonny Greenwood posted a note on the Radiohead official website, revealing that These Are My Twisted Words was available from the website as a free download.

Earlier this month Radiohead released a song in tribute to Harry Patch, the last surviving British soldier to have seen action in the First World War trenches who died aged 111 on July 25. Unlike their last album In Rainbows, which was released in 2007, also as a free download, this track was not given away. It can be downloaded for a £1, the proceeds of which go to the Royal British Legion.

The release of These Are My Twisted Words comes a fortnight before Radiohead headline the Reading and Leeds festivals. ·