Song: Radiohead - Lotus Flower
RADIOHEAD - THE KING OF LIMBS
The Oxford five are at it again, mucking around with the music industry like only they know how. The best band currently on the planet (in my opinion) released number eight at some surprise time on Friday 18th February 2011, despite the initial earlier announcement of Saturday 19th. On hearing about the abrupt (yet long anticipated) release, I got kind of nervous, not knowing what it would be like at all, they seem to change so much, having definitely left their teenage, poppy, pessimistic days behind but recent offerings being saturated with electronics.. I was nervous, but a good nervous. This is Radiohead after all. Also, in the way of releasing, no-one (not even the band themselves, perhaps) envisaged what was next, how and when it would be released. It’s a digital only until March 28th when it’ll appear in conventional CD + vinyl format, then a limited edition ‘newspaper’ 10” vinyl format in May with added artwork and other treats. So here’s my lowdown on the tracks, their shortest album yet at a lesser-than-average 37:24.
Bloom
The start comes across as slightly Indian, also a bit like Muse’s ‘In Your World’. Then come in the skipping glitch sounds we know so well from Yorke’s ‘The Eraser’, marching drum repetition and dreamy high vocals and a vinyl surface noise-like sound. The whole shebang is very reminiscent of their penultimate offering ‘In Rainbows’ (especially the second disk the vinyl came with) but the ‘caught in loop’ technique creates a new sound we haven’t yet heard from the band. The lyrics are typically Radiohead, heaving with emotion, nature and a sense of longing (even frustration). This flows throughout the album. Another observation I picked up on quite quickly was how much more bassy this album is than previous ones. Perhaps that’s just my headphones.
Morning Mr Magpie
Oh this is a definite second track to an album, like Bodysnatchers to In Rainbows. When I saw this title upon downloading, I was sure I had seen it next to the band name Radiohead before. A title floating around for the past decade and occasionally played at gigs, the originally acoustic Good Morning Mr Magpie gets an electronic facelift here, a complete reworking of the melody but retains pretty much all the lyrics, with a few added. The drums are fantastic here, sounding very looped but I know it’s not beyond Phil Selway, that man got de skillz to pay the billz. The guitar pluckings and Thom’s prolonged vocals fit well.
Little By Little
No, it’s not an Oasis cover (however crazy Radiohead are, it’s probably the last thing they’d do…however, saying that, I think they did a jokey parody of Wonderwall once!). I got all kinds of stuff in my head on listening to this one. The mysterious rising guitar part brought early Pink Floyd to mind, the drums are quite latin-y/samba-y and add the singing to the mix and…Amnesiac? My goodness there’s a lot of repetition in this album, from the drums to lyrics, glitchy electronicness and hooks. I really appreciate the guitar and straight bassing on this song. There’s something spring-like and, oh it’s very Radiohead.
Feral
So far we’ve had one minor piece and the last two have been major. This one’s a minor too. There’s a real sense of ‘short’ with this piece, not only is it the shortest on the album, but the sound effects, temporary burst of sounds and vocals (no lyrics here..) come together to make this almost an instrumental interlude or bookmark in the album. It reminded me a little of ‘Idioteque’ from Kid A, also massively of ‘Beatrix’ by Cocteau Twins on their fantastic album ‘Treasure’ (same key too, interesting huh?). This one builds up beautifully, as the bass and other effects enter.
Lotus Flower
This was the first to be released as the day before the album came out, the music video was uploaded to YouTube and instantly a viral, thanks to the band’s twitter page. You can watch a really interesting interview with the choreographer here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ABInlA5MMY. This song had also been knocking around for a while, being played in a different form at gigs, festivals and Thom’s solo performances. It is definitely my favourite on the album, at an exact 5 minutes long and with an incredible syncopated / interesting rhythmic drumbeat which has been the mainstay on more recent albums, I reckon (in the same league as Idioteque, 15 Step). There’s something optimistic and more relaxing about this one. I love the different sounds that come in and disappear throughout, from hand claps to electronic blips and the driving bass underneath all, like that of ‘I Might Be Wrong’ from Amnesiac. The lyrics are full of longing, looking for meaning and purpose. Elements of freedom and ‘doing what we want’ also pop up. Nature again, the lotus flower, weeds, roots, moon, the heart, human emotions… oh but the drumbeat beats all in this song. No wonder Thom’s dancing as he is!
Codex
What an odd start. Sounds like a deleted take or part of another song as it builds up for a couple of seconds and then cuts off into the mellow and gentle piano-driven Codex. It is redeemed by the wonderfully-placed chords and the lovely harp-like glissandi in the background, sparkly like ‘Subterranean Homesick Alien’ and very similar to the ghostly ‘Motion Picture Soundtrack’. So atmospheric. The lyrics here are very ‘OK Computer’, dismal and strange, but full of wonder, hope and fearlessness. The song ends with radio-like interference turning into birdsong and transitions into the next song.
Give Up The Ghost
This is an unexpected ballad. Slow and eerie like the last, lyrically longing and hopeful again. The ‘don’t hurt me / in your arms’ which echoes throughout is excellent. Repetition again, a structure which the rest of the song flows around. There’s a bassy heart-like beat that lasts throughout too, and some gentle acoustic guitar that compliments it so well. It all ends with some glitchy wing flapping-like sounds at the end. And then…
Separator
As if there weren’t enough pleasant yet unexpected surprises on this album, Phil’s tight and constant drums on Separator start the last song, and yet again; what a rhythm! I like Thom’s layered vocals on this one. It seems he’s really dominated this album, the others seem less involved with the amount of electronic/effects and apparent solitary (although sometimes multilayered) voice being Thom’s. I miss Jonny Greenwood’s crazy guitar riffs but his guitarring here is still top notch. A happy ending to a brilliant album that i’m sure will grow on me more and more in the coming months. Ok so there’s no outstanding masterpiece which will become my favourite song ever and it’s not the best of their albums (what can beat Kid A though?) but it’s an extremely well made piece of work. Well done yet again Radiohead, full of talent and innovation. 9.5/10 for now but might as well be a 10.
