Return of the ‘King’
With a rumble of the drums and a quick Thom Yorke croon,
Radiohead has returned from a four-year hiatus.
With
”
open your mouth,
”
Yorke starts Radiohead’s eighth
– and perhaps best – album, The King of Limbs, which was
released a day earlier than expected Feb. 18.
For nearly 26 years and eight albums, the English-born Radiohead
really has only one constant
– every sound is perfectly crafted, pushing music and the genres
they represent forward.
Return of the ‘King’
With a rumble of the drums and a quick Thom Yorke croon, Radiohead has returned from a four-year hiatus.
With “open your mouth,” Yorke starts Radiohead’s eighth – and perhaps best – album, The King of Limbs, which was released a day earlier than expected Feb. 18.
For nearly 26 years and eight albums, the English-born Radiohead really has only one constant – every sound is perfectly crafted, pushing music and the genres they represent forward.
Radiohead is more than a five-member band. They are innovators of a new musical style and delivery. Every album is different, building upon layers created in the past.
The band never looks back; instead, they always look for the next big thing.
And with every move, Yorke and company continue to blow away the rest of the musical world – showing the world how to continue to grow as musicians but still keep its core audience.
And The King of Limbs is no different.
Announced on Feb. 14, the eight-song, 38-minute album was released just days later to extreme fanfare and anticipation.
It was four years since the 2007-defining In Rainbows. The album turned the musical world on its head, as the band allowed listeners to pay their own price. Months later, it was announced that more than one million people downloaded the album from the band’s website.
Fans will always remember how it was released – not necessarily the music – but the album itself was perhaps Radiohead’s most accessible album to date.
This year’s The King of Limbs holds some of the same features of In Rainbows. It was announced and released within a matter of days. Four years passed between albums, making each record incredibly anticipated. And the albums share similar themes of desperation, urgency and loss.
But similarities end there. Unlike In Rainbows, the music has a set price (around $9 for MP3 download) and the band will release it as a “newspaper album” with more than 600 pages of artwork in May. Included in the “newspaper” package are two clear 10″ vinyls.
The King of Limbs is more geared toward electronics – as the guitar in the album’s mix is almost nonexistent. The rhythm section, driven by Colin Greenwood’s pulsating bassline and the thundering drums of Phil Selway, is the backbone of the album.
Through the album’s first two songs “Bloom” and “Morning Mr. Magpie” the bassline sets a heavy, quick and almost claustrophobic tempo. The songs are full of sounds that continue to build through the songs’ four to five minutes.
In “Morning Mr. Magpie” a subtle siren is heard in the background, pushing the already heightened tempo.
Contrasting with the tempo is Yorke’s voice, which is as ethereal as ever.
“Good morning, Mr. Magpie/ How are we today?/ Now you’ve stolen all the magic/ I turn my back, walk away,” he sings along.
Yorke’s voice is just as gloomy as it’s always been, but his falsetto is and always will be the band’s secret weapon. Despite the sometimes-ambient noises of the band – his voice cuts through it, offering a glimmer of sunlight for the casual listeners.
In The King of Limbs it’s Yorke’s voice that saves the album from its abundance of sounds. And it is never as piercing as it is in the first single “Lotus Flower” and the piano-ballad “Codex.”
“Lotus Flower” is a clunky song that rest upon a danceable rhythm and a nervous atmosphere. Yorke holds the song together with his soulful croon – singing about breaking habits.
“Slowly we unfurl/As lotus flowers/Because all I want is the moon upon a stick/Just to see what if/Just to see what is/I can’t kick your habit/Just to feel your fast /ballooning head/Listen to your heart,” he pleads.
But “Codex” is the album’s moment of glory.
Paced by an off-kilter piano and a hazy atmosphere, “Codex” is a beautiful song that matches up with the best Radiohead ballads. It is Yorke at his most honest and almost desperate.
“Slide your hand/Jump off the end/ The water’s clear/ And innocent/ The water’s clear/And innocent,” he sings.
The song ends quietly with chirping birds, and easily marks the moment where the four-year wait in-between albums was worth it.
Overall The King of Limbs is another accomplishment in Radiohead’s expansive history. It’s an album that continues to push their craft and sound. As the band’s guitar slowly drifts off, the sound’s ambient atmosphere becomes more prevalent.
The King of Limbs is further proof that the band will never remain comfortable for long. It’s proof that the band will never remain complacent, and will always look for the next element of their sound.
The album will find a nice spot amongst the Radiohead catalog. It may never become as defining as OK Computer, Kid A or even In Rainbows, but it is a masterpiece.
And with a Radiohead album that can’t be a surprise.
Long live the King – and welcome back.
