I’ve had a strange relationship with Radiohead, and that’s not just because I seem to be the only person who thinks Amnesiac is their best album. I’ve been infatuated with them, scared of over-playing their records and then finally, decided to stop listening to them for what has been about a year. But why would you stop listening to a band whom provide you with such gravity and simultaneously, what seems to be a flowing soundtrack that wonderfully accompanies life? It was mostly resentment and the feeling that they were never to create something so precious again, whilst still all being alive and kicking artists.
I grew to appreciate – they’re just not a band who will simply scrawl through an album within a year and for this reason craft distinctive albums with clear efforts of experimentation, boldly reassuring you of their talents. For many fans of Radiohead, hints that the lightbulb of their reunion still flickers is tremendously exciting. Over the past few months, we’ve been supplied with such news: the establishment of their new company, Dawn Chorus LLP, in October 2015 and artwork (potentially a future album sleeve, with an unsurprisingly abstract style) being released on the Radiohead website in the last week.
Although Radiohead haven’t been completely off the scene. At the end of last month, ‘Spectre’ was released, the rejected James Bond theme song. Not only was it rather emotional to see the band birth material as a collective group, but it acted as a sobering reminder of their talent when unified.
Primavera Sound recently released their 2016 lineup, presenting us with the dreamy information that Radiohead will be performing there later this year. Not only will they be performing, but they will be presenting material from their latest album. But what has to be the greatest news to fans of these perfectly disheveled men will be the recently announced 2016 shows that will take place in Chicago, Montreal and San Francisco this Summer. We can only hope that British shows will catalytically be released later this year.
Earlier in 2015, live at the Trianon, Thom Yorke performed what I found to be one of the most fantastically raw musical performances to date. Due to the broad gaps between their albums, many avid fans may find themselves lingering and reminiscing on videos of Thom back when he had peroxide blonde hair, always suspiciously drowsy. In contrast, Thom now speaks of his children asking him questions about life prior to his performance. These songs have been circulated around the internet as potentially being new Radiohead material.
Although his dryness clearly hasn’t moistened. In the words of Thom Yorke, “I was up last night, wondering what the f**k I’m doing”.
So what are Radiohead doing? For a band who seem to always be invested in their own projects or otherwise being pretty ambiguous, I think they’ve given us plenty of clues that their ninth baby is on the way. Let’s hope it’s as exceedingly beautiful as the last eight.
Words by Lydia Ibrahim