Radiohead - The King Of Limbs

Radiohead spent the first decade of this century finding a balance between their newfound love of electronic sounds and the guitar-based repertoire of ‘The Bends’ and ‘OK Computer’. Having achieved a near-perfect synthesis on ‘In Rainbows’, the world has waited eagerly to hear where the Oxfordshire quintet would head next. On Valentine’s Day, a new album, ‘The King Of Limbs’ was announced.

So, what exactly is on the album? Like its title, ‘Bloom’ unfurls: piano sample, electronic pulse, scattered drums, tiny glitchy squelches, nimble bass. Then Mr Yorke enters with a beautiful, searching vocal turn. The chorus, if you can call it that, is a succession of Yorke “ooh”s, which eventually merges with a glorious string and brass section. A repeat of the verse then returns and is immediately more comfortable on the ear, having heard it before. The end of the song fades away with all the echoes of its counterparts in a very ‘Everything In Its Right Place’ way. After this very ambitious opening, it’s little wonder that ‘Morning Mr Magpie’ falls a little flat. Despite the slightly dark overtones lent by the vocals and some lovely (presumably Jonny Greenwood) effects, I think it’s just too chirpy (pardon the pun!) and repetitive for a Radiohead song, with the syncopated drum rhythms and the bouncing muted guitar. There’s also not much in the way of development, but in all fairness, this is enhanced by its juxtaposition with the opener.

‘Little By Little’ is an interesting song; it has a similar tone to 2009 stand-alone ‘These Are My Twisted Words’ (descending bass line in particular), yet little of the darkness that pervaded that track. Listening to the song feels alternately like driving at night and frolicking in a sunny meadow, such is the morose tenderness of Thom Yorke’s vocal set against the light, pattering rhythms and coupled with lyrics in the vein of ‘You are such a tease and I am such a flirt’. Up next is ‘Feral’, the big brother of Amnesiac’s ‘Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors,’ complete with vocals but no lyrics, but containing more ‘somethings’ that resemble melody. According to Radiohead’s website, they were listening to a fair amount of Burial and other electronica artists around the time when they were recording this album, and this track certainly demonstrates those influences. Its rolling bass is pretty special actually, giving the song both groove and high remix potential!

Next, we hit the second half of the record with the incredible ‘Lotus Flower’. I personally am reminded during the verses of a sped-up version of Howling Bells’ ‘Golden Web’, which, coupled with Thom Yorke’s desire to ‘fit myself inside your pocket,’ convey a sweet fragility. The song flows effortlessly from section to section (the sustained bass notes halve in length from intro to chorus giving the song more impetus as it evolves, before leaving during the second half of the chorus to complement the angelic qualities of Yorke’s voice and lyrics), and before long, you’re either wondering how on earth five minutes elapsed so quickly, or trying to clap along with the handclaps (not as easy as you'd think!). ‘Codex’ follows, and is probably the most “traditional” song on the album: piano chords and everything. It sounds like it could have been written during the Amnesiac sessions and is grand and stately like the album’s namesake. Still, the treatment of the piano sound and the subtle, stuttering heartbeat rhythm in the background don’t allow the song to revisit the cleaner arrangements of ‘Pyramid Song’. Quasi-electronic strings/guitar effects sweep over the top of the track, and then force the piano into a quiet outro, with the more ‘modern’ elements seeing us out, like a mini-victory of electronic over acoustic.

A battle rendered pointless by ‘Give Up The Ghost’ with its slow, lulling rhythm hand-on-acoustic guitar rhythm and strummed chords accompany some looped background vocals. Again, parts build up and develop around the introduction throughout the song: clean guitar parts that sound almost like vibraphones, vocal harmonies and different vocal passages. After four minutes, you sense the fade out before it actually starts. Similar to ‘Magpie’ earlier, there is very little actual development, but I really enjoy the campfire sing-along vibe which emanates from the forest soundscape at the outro of ‘Codex’, so it almost seems a continuation from that track. Then, ‘Separator’ enters, and we’re back to business, King Of Limbs style. The lovely percussion sounds are back, with some reverberant Yorke vocals displaying their usual dreamlike tone. However, any feelings of slight repetition fade halfway through the song when an actually discernible guitar part enters with a beautiful lick and a chorus suddenly emerges: ‘if you think this is over me, you’re wrong…’ The surprise of this sudden acceleration of ideas at a point where things were getting a little sleepy means that once you are used to this development, all of a sudden the song has finished. Then, … nothing.

You have finished listening to the new Radiohead album.

The immediate impression I get from ‘The King Of Limbs’ is that there’s been slightly more focus on style than substance. Radiohead don’t do themselves any favours by only serving up eight tracks (two of which lack any real lyrics and should really be termed ‘pieces’ as opposed to ‘songs’), some of which seem to twin with each other. The drum and bass parts in particular sound very similar over some tracks, which both homogenizes the songs, but also makes distinction between them difficult. However, this shouldn’t suggest that the album is skin-deep; there are some truly beautiful moments and songs on this album and a continued determination to really continue to push their sonic boundaries. After ‘In Rainbows’ and the novel ‘pay-what-you-want’ Internet release approach resulting in their most accessible album since the 90s, it is no surprise to see Radiohead return to more abstract forms to present their fans with more of a challenge, they’re well known for this type of behaviour, as well as for not repeating themselves. It’s just slightly disappointing that, while experimenting with a more minimal approach for the last few years, they haven’t had as many musical ideas as they have had for previous albums.

Having said that, fan community rumours are rife with the possibility of a second part to the album (the last track being called “Separator” could have a more direct meaning?), which could lend ‘The King Of Limbs’, as reviewed here, a whole different context.

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