Less than two months ago, rumors circulated that Radiohead would wait until 2008 to release their long-awaited seventh LP. Then, on Oct. 1st, a message appeared on the band’s official website detailing that the new record, entitled In Rainbows, would come out in 10 days. No promos, no publicity, no hype. The price? “Whatever you want.” On Wednesday morning, every fan who preordered the album—from the stuffiest Rolling Stone scribe to your little sister—received an e-mail with the link to download the album. It was the moment that fans have anticipated for exactly four years and four months. Was it worth it?
Yes, without a doubt. Benefiting from an immaculate sense of balance and restraint, In Rainbows is Radiohead’s most coherent batch of songs since 2000’s Kid A. It may not reproduce the highs of “There There” or “Pyramid Song” on the band’s last two records, Hail to the Thief and Amnesiac, but it excels in an area that previous records sorely lacked: focus.
With a runtime of less than 43 minutes, In Rainbows is Radiohead’s shortest album since their 1993 debut and features some of the band’s most economical songwriting. Opener “15 Step” builds around a simple guitar motif and a stuttering drum beat naked enough to make M.I.A. blush. The fuzz-drenched guitar chops of “Bodysnatchers” drown out almost any trace of complex arrangements.
The remainder of the album’s first half continues with brooding, understated intensity. The placid drum-and-base structure of “Nude” belies the song’s lyrical undercurrents: “Now that you’ve found it / It’s gone / Now that you feel it / You don’t.” Punctuated by airy string murmurs, it flows well into the ethereal “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi,” which slowly builds tension but never climaxes. “All I Need” follows, providing the necessary denouement as Yorke bashes his piano while wailing “it’s alright.”
The R&B-tinged second half is much lighter, allowing drummer Phil Selway to showcase his versatility. “Reckoner” opens with his full, echoing drum work while “House of Cards” centers on his lighter, Stewart Copeland-esque sense of purpose. The latter song marks Yorke’s foray into soul with lines like “I don’t want to be your friend / I just want to be your lover.” Coming from James Blunt, the line would have reeked of cliché; it’s a wonder, however, to hear Yorke so unambiguously sexed up.
The album closes with “Videotape,” a song played on the band’s 2006 tour. The new iteration’s minimal piano arrangement eschews the older version’s defining climax and sounds far less grandiose, eventually repeating the same drum machine stabs that open the album. Like In Rainbows as a whole, “Videotape” will disappoint fans hungry for the dramatic. Radiohead don’t seem concerned, however: after building a career on moments of drama, it’s time for the Oxford five-piece to settle into their skin.
