A new Radiohead album is an extremely loaded writing subject: few bands have the weight of expectation on them quite so heavily with each new release, a fact which the band have exploited amply this time by announcing a digital release date at the eleventh hour (with no press promos available) and then moving the release forward a day, unannounced, catching all those snoozing writers unawares, sending them running for their laptops to hastily publish their half formed opinions before their peers.
The record itself, available from the band’s website for £6, sounds, on first listen like standard Radiohead fare, if there is such a thing. The album is strong on atmosphere and dynamics, awash with echoey brass, strings and piano, and interspersed with a couple of propulsive, urgent tunes that pick up the pace just when you feel a little more movement might be needed. It feels as though it has a little more continuity, coherence and musical narrative than In Rainbows, but isn’t necessarily a return to the festival sing-along anthems that litter ‘The Bends‘ and ‘OK Computer’.
In short, the album, on first listen, sounds beautifully and thoughtfully crafted with an emphasis on dynamic shape rather, perhaps than anthems or brain-burrowing hooks. As ‘In Rainbows‘ proved though, nailing your colours to the mast on the first listen of a Radiohead album is a mug’s game: expect these tunes to insinuate themselves into your subconscious slowly and quietly with repeated listens.
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Guest post by the erudite Pete, check out his blog.
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TRACKS:
Radiohead – Lotus Flower
