With all the attention Radiohead’s new In Rainbows album (released digitally today) has received due to its unique sales plan, it’s possible to forget that this is an album with actual songs on it, rather than a way to turn the music industry on its ear. But it is, in fact, an album, and that album has a sound.
Fans expecting a sonic revolution on the magnitude of Kid Aare likely to be disappointed, In Rainbows representing an expansion of earlier Radiohead ideas rather than a departure from them. Likewise, anyone looking for the dramatic anthems from the band’s earlier albums will prefer to keep listening to those. But the more I listen to In Rainbows, the more I notice the sort of subtle touches, sonic variety and chordal development that could make the album a so-called "grower" with Radiohead fans. It simply gets better with each listen.
Listen: 30-second sample from "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi":
Making your way through In Rainbows, you understand why Radiohead refuses
to release their albums as individual songs on iTunes and other digitaloutlets: the songs flow into each other with a sense of purpose, and sound like they’re meant to be heard in a row.
Ingeneral, the trend throughout the album is from fast to slow tempos, but, of course,
the overall progression is a lot more complex than that.
to release their albums as individual songs on iTunes and other digitaloutlets: the songs flow into each other with a sense of purpose, and sound like they’re meant to be heard in a row.
Ingeneral, the trend throughout the album is from fast to slow tempos, but, of course,
the overall progression is a lot more complex than that.
The album kicks off with Thom Yorke declaring, "How come I end upwhere I started, how come I end up where I went wrong" on top of astomping beat that feels like an IDM-typedeconstruction of the sparse, cheerleader style pioneered by GwenStefani in "Holla Back Girl," but soon guitar and bass kick in toenvelope the listener in a rapidly-expanding layer of Radioheadlushness.
Then it’s time for live favorite "Bodysnatchers," a whirling dervish of a track that rouses on the level of Kid A‘s "National Anthem." After these two driving tracks, In Rainbows
wends its way into slower, more haunting territory with "Nude," a waltzwith velvety bass and string swells that sounds like it would be perfect accompaniment for slow space footage a la 2001: Space Odyssey.
The ambitious, beautiful "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" expands a jitteryacoustic guitar riff into a glittering crescendo that resolves into theunderwater aesthetic hinted at by its title, ultimately ensnaring thelistener in a whirlpool.
wends its way into slower, more haunting territory with "Nude," a waltzwith velvety bass and string swells that sounds like it would be perfect accompaniment for slow space footage a la 2001: Space Odyssey.
The ambitious, beautiful "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" expands a jitteryacoustic guitar riff into a glittering crescendo that resolves into theunderwater aesthetic hinted at by its title, ultimately ensnaring thelistener in a whirlpool.
"All I Need," a nicely disorienting track, sounds somewhat likeThom Yorke fronting The Boards of Canada, while "Faust Arp" could be ananswer to The Beatles’ "Blackbird." Then the album takes a turn for theexperimental with the wide, watery drum sounds of "Reckoner," whichadds Fender Rhodes and more string swells, and includes afew suprising/satisfying major chords.
As for the last three songs, you’ll have to listen for yourself. Then, vote for your favorite In Rainbows tracks with our voting widget:
How do you rate the songs on Radiohead’s In Rainbows album?
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