Once upon a time, Pharrell Williams would produce songs for some of hip hop's biggest guns. These days, though, he seems to be writing new music exclusively for movies made for children. Last year he was responsible for the phenomenally ear-wormy "Happy," and this year he's been snuck into the Oscar race with a song for "Paddington." Today, too, comes word that Williams has resurrected his arty pop rock band N.E.R.D. (who had minor hits with "Lapdance" and "Everybody Nose") for the forthcoming "SpongeBob SquarePants: Sponge Out of Water." And it's pretty great (you can listen to it below via All Hip Hop).



Chad Hugo, Williams' partner in The Neptunes and N.E.R.D., talked to Variety about the new material (they're contributing two more songs: "Sandy Squirrel" and "Patrick Star"). "We're trying not to think too much in a cartoon sense," Hugo told Variety, "but more just like a psychedelic, otherworldy type of thing. If you want to draw a parallel, maybe think of what the Beatles did with 'Yellow Submarine.'"



And, honestly, it's easy to get that vibe from the song, especially with its gently psychedelic, sing-song-y tone and the backing party vocals. Ah, N.E.R.D., it's been too long. Hopefully this means more new material soon.



"SpongeBob SquarePants: Sponge Out of Water" opens on February 6th.