The band first recorded the cover back in 2016 as a tribute to Jo Cox, the Batley and Spen MP who was tragically killed. The song served as an “honour of her tireless campaigning in support of refugees”. At the time they released a monochrome video featuring singer Beth Gibbons. The clip ends with Cox’s quote from her speech in Parliament: “We have far more in common than which divides us”. You can watch the video below. 
Yesterday, on the 8th of June, Portishead released the track for the first time for streaming in aid of mental health charity, Mind. Revenue from the stream will be generated through Soundcloud new fan-powered royalty program, launched in March.

“When we heard that SoundCloud switched to a fairer user-centric payment system of streaming music, we were happy to make it the only place to stream our unreleased version of ABBA’s ‘SOS’,” said the band’s Geoff Barrow in a statement.  “After recording it years ago for Ben Wheatley’s film High-Rise, we are excited to finally share it with the world, and we are even more excited that all streaming profits are going to a great cause” he added.

Portishead’s version of “S.O.S” became one of the high-profile releases on Soundcloud. “Portishead’s timeless sound has inspired countless artists and given rise to many emerging genres on SoundCloud. We are honored Portishead chose SoundCloud, the only platform where the artist to fan connection is directly rewarded, as the first place to exclusively release their cover of this iconic song” commented Michael Pelczynski, SoundCloud’s head of content and rights holder strategy. 

Hello.https://t.co/GyaCkEXzLj
@SoundCloud @MindCharity pic.twitter.com/T0ixGhdLW4

— Official (@Portisheadinfo) July 8, 2021

The new royalty concept introduced by Soundcloud came at the right time when artists started demanding more clarity and change from streaming companies like Spotify or Apple Music. Typically individual stream royalties don’t always go directly to the artist but to a bigger “pool which is then divvied up based on who has the most listens”. That option works well with major superstars but not with smaller artists. SoundCloud alternative model is set to help Independent artists. 

You can listen to Portishead “S.O.S” and contribute to Mind via SoundCloud here. Portishead and SoundCloud will also donate to Mind to mark the release.