For the past few years Radiohead have essentially been producing music that goes beyond the parameters of what normal people would call ‘rock’ or ‘pop’ music. With few, if any, contractual obligations Thom Yorke and co. have been allowed to explore the limitations and the possibilities that lie within the unique niche they have carved out for themselves over the past fifteen years.
After a surreal spell in which Yorke released what was essentially a solo album whilst the band continued to tour and test new material without any pressure to launch an assault on the charts they finally re-emerged without the seemingly mandatory media onslaught that most stadium-sized bands require these days. Instead of being about a brand new direction for the band’s sound or Thom Yorke’s new hairstyle, all the hype is instead about how they are selling their new album online rather than on CD with fans being able to pay as much or as little as they like for it. A marketing ploy perhaps? Not when you listen to the ten tracks that make up ‘In Rainbows’ and discover what this album is really about.
In their time off Radiohead appear to have rejected the quirkiest spasms of electronica that made some of their Kid A-era music so difficult to listen to (Yorke may have been getting it properly out of his system in the heavily digitized ‘Eraser’). Instead, they have returned at least in part to what made them such a great band in the first place. Yorke was clearly listening to ‘The Bends’ when he wrote ‘Bodysnatchers’, a superb burst of ‘Just’ via ‘Creep’ guitar rock. Elsewhere ‘All I Need’ is ‘Karma Police’ with a thrilling ethereal twist of ‘Ideoteque’ and ‘House of Cards’ marries ‘High And Dry’ with the whole of ‘Kid A’ in seamless fashion.
In ‘In Rainbows’, Radiohead find a third way between the melancholic guitars that defined their music in the early years and the bizarre technological experimentation they became obsessed with from ‘OK Computer’ onwards. The music shifts from strummed acoustic guitars one minute to haunting stabs of echoing synth the next, especially on ’15 Step’ and ‘Jigsaw Falling Into Place’. All this amounts to a truly eclectic and compelling listening experience. Thom Yorke’s intriguing lyrical adventures wrap around swirling pianos, whirring guitars, tribal drums and electronic soundscapes creating something that transcends the barriers set up for it by those who wish to box and label music into genres and scenes.
Radiohead quite obviously do not want to be part of the music establishment and here they have plucked the best from what came before and honed it into an integrated whole that stands on its own apart from the charts and mainstream radio. This album is one of the few today in which moments of astounding lyrical or instrumental majesty can be found that contribute to an overall experience of sheer wonder. Be it the piano refrain in ‘All I Need’ or the reverberating guitar at the end of ‘Reckoner’, there is a memorable moment in there for everyone in this outstanding return for the most important band around at the moment.
By Matt Wood
