It shows how much I am out of touch when the first thing I knew about the new Radiohead album, King of Limbs, was when I received an email from their website. It is available now as a download for £6, which is a bit steep compared to their last album (In Rainbows, which was free to download at first), but I forked out anyway. The album is little over 30 minutes, and contains 8 tracks (like the limbs of an octopus?), mostly involving complex drum loops, floaty sound fragments and dubby echo effects, modulated vocals and very little guitar.
At first I was distinctly underwhelmed and felt like it all sounded like background music, but after a third listen it is definitely growing on me. The music sounds mostly computer generated, with nods to the likes of Lamb, Massive Attack, Aphex Twin and UNKLE, and is a progression of the techno-fiddiling that began on Kid A. 'Bloom' has a laid back jazzy feel while second track 'Good Morning Mr Magpie', which first appeared on the Radiohead TV DVD as a solo acoustic performance from Thom Yorke, bounces along to an insistently funky riff. Track 3 'Little by little' has the first recognisable guitar and recalls the minor key progression of '2+2=5' from previous Radiohead album 'Hail to the Thief'. The songs in the second half of the album put more emphasis on the vocals, 'Codex' has some nice big shimmering keyboard and last track 'Separator' has an uplifting melody with some spacey chords to finish on.
It feels a bit lightweight for a Radiohead album, but its so short you can happily play it again straight away when its over. It's different enough from their previous output, while still remaining recognisably Radiohead and shows how the band are not scared to continuously change their style. Deep down I would like them to come out with a White Album-style stripped down acoustic album next, but they'll probably continue their metamorphosis into a cybertrance outfit. Which wouldn't be so unwelcome.
I ended up forking out for the £30 'Newspaper' version of the album, whatever that is, which ships in May. I may regret this... Hopefully there'll be some extra tracks at least, like on the pay edition of In Rainbows.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, did you know Phil Selway has a solo album out called Familial? It's pretty good, too.
ReplyDeleteCheers Col, I would like to listen to the Selway album at some point. I am totally out of touch with music at the moment.
ReplyDeleteThe newspaper record is actually made of newspaper, that the band previously ate fish and chips out of. Its a new dimension in vinegar-smelling anxious blooposity.