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Thom Yorke :
vocals, guitar, keyboards, piano, laptop
Jonny Greenwood :
leadguitar, analogue systems, ondes martenot, laptop, toy piano,
glockenspiel
Ed O’Brien :
guitar, effects, voice
Colin Greenwood :
bass, string synth, sampler
Phil
Selway : drums, percussion |
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 How he can keep a
straight face I don’t know yet everytime Thom Yorke is interviewed
about the new album he comes up with the same story. Apparently
three months before the album’s official release the complete album
could already be found on the internet. York says someone must have
entered the studio whilst noone was there, opened the computer and
simply made a copy of what was on it’s harddisk : all of the new
album. Imagine it is true, don’t you think the album’s title “Hail
to the thief” blends perfectly with what’s happened ? I’m sure few
marketing people would be able to come up with something that
imaginative. But in order to still be a couple of yards in front of
Coldplay, the music has to be out of this world. But is it ?
By now we all know
the history of the band whom with the incredible “OK computer” album
topped the charts everywhere in the world resulting in massive
sales. It meant the band lost it’s connection with reality for a
while trying to become artier as time went by. Albums such as “Kid
A” and “Amnesiac” and to a lesser extent the live recording “I might
be wrong” all went much further than the well structured poprock on
albums such as “The bends” and “OK computer”. For sure the pressure
from fans, media and recordcompany must have been immense asking the
band over and over again to come up with yet another ‘Karma police’
or ‘Creep’. Radiohead became the martyr of the rock industry
delivering music which became difficult to market by it’s
recordcompany and difficult to digest by it’s millions of fans. With
“Hail to the thief” the band delivers their final album for EMI but
also go back to the more songbased structure mixed with studio
gadgetary. The result is an album which contains fourteen well
balanced songs in which melody and rhythmic sense prevail.
 As so many times
before Yorke’s voice remains uncertain given the endresult a unique
charm. As the opening song for their new album the band has chosen a
rather daring song as the intro for ‘2+2=5’ is rather experimental
and naked whilst the powerful ‘body’ of the song only comes apparent
towards the very end. Together with producer Nigel Godrich the band
has also introduced a fair bit of electronics which they try to
blend with conventional instruments so as to create a unique canvas.
In that respect ‘Sit down. Stand up’ is a rather repetitive song but
which becomes addictive adding extra sounds as time goes by. Towards
the end the electronic rhythm is as if Radiohead combines it’s
wizardry with the influence of Kraftwerk. Personally I think working
with Godrich has done them a world of good as Nigel is someone who
can add interesting details to any band’s music. Here his
collaboration with The Sundays is of great value as one can hear
shine through ‘Sail to the moon’ with some outstanding vocal
acrobatics from Thom. The arrangement is rather bare with some
laidback drumming accompanied by sparse guitar and piano but the
vocals are the main ingredient here. The ideal mixture between the
band’s ambient past and their more rhythmic efforts can be found in
‘Where I end and you begin’ where one notices some Frippertronics in
the background.
As said before
Radiohead is not interested whether their new album will sell or
 not. Al they want to do is to deliver something which is once again
artistically acceptable. ‘We suck young blood’ certainly must be the
most daring song on the album sounding as if it has been recorded
during a funeral in New Orleans. The music drags itself towards the
end ruled by ‘dry’ handclaps. We already mentioned the name
Kraftwerk and during ‘The gloaming’ it’s as if more Krautrock is
putting it’s claws into Yorke’s weird minimalistic soundscapes. The
balance between calm, intimate songs and uptempo material is well
respected with ‘There there’ undoubtedly becoming a firm live
favourite. More vocals in a naked arrangement with ‘I will’ which
almost sounds like a 21st century barber shop equivalent.
One of the best build ups certainly has to be ‘A punchup at the
wedding’ which begins with a great sounding funky bass turning this
song into something which could be a leftover from a distant Steely
Dan session. Very dark analogue synths form the backbone for the
powerful ‘Myxomatosis’ bringing far away memories from the heydays
of Gary Numan and his Tubeway Army to the forefront. Back again
towards more intimate settings with
wonderful guitarplaying and yet another outstanding Thom Yorke in
‘Scatterbrain’. With a mixture between rap and Beatles, ‘A wolf at
the door’ puts a final stop behind one incredible new album by a
band who sounds different and still recognizable time after time
again. They had their go at being the arty band but with “Hail to
the thief”, Radiohead delivers an album which is both arty and
accessible and not many bands have the talent to combine both of
those extremes into one whole. An incredible album and if you don’t
have the money to buy it … nick it !
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