Radiohead’s eighth studio album ends three-year wait

Leslie Armstrong
Staff Writer
Radiohead has long been considered one of the greatest alternative bands. Like a fine, savoury film, their music reveals new facets as it’s experienced more and more, as we get to peel back the layers of nuance between listens. This is most true for albums like In Rainbows (2007) and Radiohead’s eighth, most recent studio album, The King of Limbs, released in mid-February. Limbs can be purchased online, but the CD hits stores in late March.
Shorter than expected with only eight tracks, the album left diehard fans somewhat disappointed after three years of waiting. For such a short album, it commands the utmost patience. After listening four times, I could finally make sense of its eccentricity.
The music in Limbs is abstract and experimental in a way reminiscent of Radiohead’s earlier albums, Amnesiac and Kid A, both of which played heavily with computerized sound effects. Thom Yorke’s voice is looped in a number of tracks, such as “Morning Mr Magpie” and “Lotus Flower.”
Yorke’s vocals stand out more than ever in this outing; they’re more streamlined and discernable than in In Rainbows, but some tracks retain his indistinct lyrics (for example, in my favourite track, “Give Up the Ghost”). While the stronger singing is refreshing this time around, the mumbled vocals from previous works are an important part of Yorke’s vocal style that draw attention away from the words and toward the songs’ musicality. It’s the same technique that made bands like Cocteau Twins and Sigur Rós famous.
The focus of Radiohead’s music in Limbs has shifted from Johnny Greenwood’s signature guitar work to Phil Selway’s drums and percussion, at once both a disappointment and an attraction of the album. “Feral” and “Seperator” are run through with Phil’s innovative percussion beats. After Radiohead’s success with “Reckoner” from In Rainbows, it’s possible the group wanted to revisit its sporadic percussion style to satisfy the audience.
For devoted fans, Radiohead released a music video for “Lotus Flower,” the fifth track on the album, which quite simply features Thom Yorke dancing in a fedora. I was almost afraid to watch the video – I was anticipating embarrassment and cringing on my part. But I found it easy to take all 5’5” of Yorke seriously.
I don’t think I’m alone in that response – but that’s part of the majesty of the band. They are outstanding because they command respect and patience from their audience. Thom Yorke can do the can-can for all he wants; his fans will continue to look to him with polite interest.