Pete Townshend Composes New Song for 'The Americans'

BY Alex HudsonPublished Apr 4, 2014

The Who have said that their 2015 world tour will be their last, but guitarist Pete Townshend isn't throwing in the towel just yet. He has written and performed a new song that will appear in the FX spy drama The Americans.

The song is called "It Must Be Done," and it was made with the show's composer Nathan Barr. The track will be heard during the season finale on April 30.

According to Billboard, the song is about three minutes long and was originally intended for a scene involving car being shadowed, but it was later moved to a scene involving "sex and murder." The initial composition began with Barr on cello, and Townshend added guitar and lyrics.

"It's almost like jazz," Townshend said. "I'm responding to something he wrote, he's responding to something I write, almost like live music. I was surprised by the intimacy."

In related news, two different versions of Townshend's solo cut "Let My Love Open the Door" will appear on the season opener of Californication on Showtime on April 13: the original version from 1980 and a remix from Philip Stier. These two versions will also appear on a Californication soundtrack, coming out via TuneCore/Spirit Music Group.

New songs from Townshend are relatively rare these days. He hasn't released a proper solo album in more than 20 years, and the Who's 2006 release Endless Wire is their only original studio LP in the last 30 years.

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