After debuting the amazing claymation video for the first single, “Burn The Witch,” Radiohead released its ninth album “A Moon Shaped Pool” its own way; a self-released digital download Sunday, May 8.
It’s been five years since “The King of Limbs” and only one week since Radiohead released the video for “Burn The Witch.” Like the video, the album seems to be heavily influenced by avant garde art and psychedelic rock. As with a lot of Radiohead, it’s about the minor details like the leaflet sent to fans on April 30 with the lyrics to “Burn the Witch,” and the tracks being listed in alphabetical order. It’s also about the small sounds that pop up throughout and the big refrain on “Identikit” – “Broken hearts make it rain.”
“Burn The Witch” has been getting a lot of press, as it should. The song and the video are both controversial and also up for interoperation. The second track, “Daydreaming” is incredibly moody and layered with brooding sound.
It’s hard to take one track and single it out here because there are so many beautiful, and mystifying moments on “A Moon Shaped Pool.” Upon each listen, the songs open another another hallway to walk down. There are endless doors and passages that lead somewhere for awhile then abruptly stop. Like at the end of “Daydreaming,” where Thom Yorke repeats backwards, “Half my life.”
Each of these songs sound like they were painstakingly crafted from actual pieces from the band members.
This meticulous craftsmanship creates an entire production that, taken as a whole, tells a story. Like “Hail to the Thief,” in 2003, “In Rainbows” in 2007 and “The King of Limbs” in 2011; “A Moon Shaped Pool” was trained to strike with deadly accuracy.
Get “A Moon Shaped Pool” from Radiohead, iTunes and Tidal.
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