Radiohead is back. Briefly, extremely (8 songs and less than 40 minutes), but they're back. Now it's time to find out what's hidden behind this The king of Limbs.
The first time I listened to the album, I did it whilst being glued to the computer and doing a thousand different things at the same time. And none right, to be honest. It became surrounding music (or as Eno would call it, "Music for elevators"), only to accompany my daily chores. And truth be told, the music didn't overcome this background status: none of the songs captured my attention, no melody distracted me from what I was doing forcing me to pay more attention to it. Yes: the first impression was one of indiference. I had read somewhere that Radiohead's new album tended towards monotony, it was lacked in variations and strength and if I had rushed into my first impressions, I would have agreed with them.
The second time I listened to it it was on the car, alone, with the volume loud enough to be able to appretiate all the elements within each song. And what a difference that made! To start, the rhythmic and electronic experimentation of "Bloom" appeals to your curiosity. Maybe it doesn't go any further than that, but it makes you admire its melodic complexity. And that is not very common nowadays in this music world saturated by simplistic little poppy songs with sing-a-long verses and repetitive choruses that seem to be afraid of departing from the 2x4 pattern.
As the songs kept playing, the initial surprise smooths away and we reach a moment of tranquility, of monotony, even, until the last movements of "Feral" arrive and its rotund bass, vibrating, brings us back to live; proving that Radiohead are far away from dead. Immediately it's the turn of "Lotus Flower", maybe the easiest song in the album and not for its simple structure, but because it attracts listeners' from the first listening. It is a good song that deserves to be listened again and again to be appreciated better.
What is curious about this second listening to The King of Limbs is realising about the different styles in the songs. The album begins aiming towards experimentation, breaking traditional structures, creating new sounds, new rhythms, proving that, the older they get, the more interested they are in trying new things. But, as the tracks evolve, we go back to a more classic Radiohead, not so much to the guitar-driven Pablo Honey or The bends, but to the Kid A Radiohead, for instance, with melodies structured around the piano and Thom Yorke's voice.
It is still quite early to decide on the value of this album, but I'm afraid that it will fall into the bottomless drawer just as their previous work did.
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