In order to ready myself for this release, I spent almost six hours yesterday doing all of my work with my iPod playing through their previous seven albums, and as soon as the opener "Bloom" started in, it was a natural progression from the rest of their catalogue--it maintains the more straightforward structure of In Rainbows, but with the electronics of Kid A and Amnesiac back in view. The track is almost disorienting in its fluidity, like being tugged along by the undertow through a coral reef, equal parts beautiful and terrifying. Morning Mr. Magpie begins in much the same way, but then takes a surprisingly Beatles-esque turn at the refrain. The first few tracks are actually surprisingly major, while still wrought with claustrophobic beats. The typical Radiohead staples are still here: you have the chaos track, "Feral;" you have the heartbreaking ballad, "Codex," complete with a horn section, and everything in between.
"Give Up The Ghost" is a surprise--it opens with a low-key, major acoustic progression with call-and-response vocals between Thom Yorke and a repeated line of himself, as the rest of the band--as well as the rest of the atmosphere--joins in slowly. The song comes to a climax with a a shatteringly beautiful vocal climb, proving itself Radiohead's most disarming song to date. After six tracks of thumping and claustrophobia, it's a welcome break--and not one that Radiohead affords its listeners that often.
The closer, "Separator" immediately kicks in with the same sort of shuffle beat found in In Rainbows tracks like "House of Cards," driven by Phil Selway's always-excellent drumming and a commanding bassline from Colin Greenwood. After the first chorus, twin-lead guitars come in playing lines not unlike the guitar solo in Fleetwood Mac's "Gypsy." Then, in true Radiohead fashion, even the atmosphere around them starts to swell, until the rhythm section cuts out completely and we're left with a few seconds of the reverb left over until their eighth, and still stunning, record comes to a close.
I'm left with a few moments of discontent when the record ends, just for the brevity. It's nothing that repeated listens won't cure, though. The first four tracks alone have so much buried inside of them that their richness make up for the lack of two extra tracks.
And, if you wanted to, I'm sure you could find a place for "These Are My Twisted Words" somewhere on the playlist. But all in all, Radiohead is a group of highly talented individuals that balance that talent with taste. The reason Radiohead is so good is because they know what good music is. It's been the secret to their consistency, and the trick doesn't break here.
As always (since The Bends, at least), Five out of Five.
