Photo: Press
'Burn The Witch'
With the skittering rhythms of The King Of Limbs, but laden with strings and the full-bodied feeling that was so beloved on In Rainbows, 'Burn The Witch' picks up where 'Spectre' left off in delivering something so utterly complete - an elegiac, swelling and cinematic gem.
It remains menacingly playful while dripping with dread, warning of the 'low-flying panic attack' that comes from groupthink propaganda from on high - bedded atop a soundtrack that's sumptuous but dark all at once.
'Daydreaming'
An atmospheric and minimalist work of cinematic grace, in a similar vein to the more subtle moments of Amnesiac, albeit with a whole lot more space, colour and life - 'Daydreaming'plays out onto a sparse canvas - the scope of which, The King Of Limbs just wouldn't allow. This is a breathtakingly outpouring of lushness.
"Dreamers, they never learn - they never learn." Brad Pitt once compared Thom Yorke's lyrics to the work of Kafka and Samuel Beckett, and by this track alone you couldn't disagree with that. Here he paints a soulful, anxiety-soaked but ultimately real landscape of modern life.
'Decks Dark'
'A work of art' is how collaborator Stanley Donwood described this ninth record from Radiohead. The only way that anyone can create art above everything else, is to outdo yourself. While 'Decks Dark' simmers along with the raw-nerved intimacy that you've long come to love Radiohead for, it floats along with so many nuances that the band have never expressed. With elements of the operatic so perfectly controlled, it's sombre but sublime.
'Desert Island Disk'
An acoustic-led cousin of In Rainbows' 'Faust Arp', albeit driven by a soulful psychedelic backing. Absolutely gorgeous.
'Ful Stop'
An ominous brood of bewitching drums and twisted guitar sounds that slowly builds into an understated sci-fi, horrorshow nightmare, 'Ful Stop' flirts wth kraut-rock menace, and again - it's a refreshing surprise to realise this is an avenue they've never wandered down before. But don't think for a second that this means that it's stoic and clinical, as it soon blooms with that Radiohead majesty, reaching a heavenly climax - a peak they've not reached since 'Weird Fishes'.
'Glass Eyes'
A waterfall of opulence flows as the band fully allow the warmth of their romantic side to overshadow their darkness on this utterly gorgeous rush of motion picture splendour.
'Identikit'
Radiohead are a band renowned for reworking and recycling numbers tried and tested on the road. Hell, it took over a decade for the band to finesse 'Big Ideas (Don't Get Any)' into the now staple 'Nude' that we found on 'In Rainbows'. But while that process was often an act of reduction as we found when they boiled down the grace of 'Videotape' and 'Lotus Flower', the road-tested 'Identikit' is here allowed a lot more meat to the bones - pretty perfectly reflecting all that's great about latter day Radiohead: a haunted paranoia, emphasised by skittering claustrophobic beats, playful guitar, a sinister refrain of synths, one of hell of a stadium chorus in 'BROKEN HEARTS, MAKE IT RAIN'. All wrapped in an aching melancholy, but lifted in a new way with evermore heavenly backing and new elements.
'The Numbers'
Kicking off with the same spirit and rolling rhythm as 'Go To Sleep', but this time given the freedom to wonder into a starry-eyed, celestial ballet. Again, soaked in strings and oh so sumptuous.
'Present Tense'
Another road-tested fan favourite, 'Present Tense' is again refreshingly given far more space to breathe - with echoes of 'Reckoner' but with more flourishes of colour to cover up the greys, as Yorke mournfully squares up to his existential plight with unflinching honesty: "This dance is like a weapon of self-defence against the present tense."
'Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Thief'
Like 'Spectre', another utterly magnificent piece of sprawling cinematic grace. "All you have to do is say yes," harps Yorke, and indeed, it seems that Radiohead have burst through any ceiling that may have been restricting them, and they're now reaching unflinchingly towards the stars.
'True Love Waits'
An unquestionable staple as an often played and much-beloved classic among true Radiohead fans, but never properly committed to record, 'True Love Waits' heartbreaking outpouring of unconditional but hopeless devotion has blossomed over time - here now manifested as a love song in its purest form: direct, straight from the heart, totally devastating and utterly perfect. Like 'Videotape', the ultimate album closer, as Yorke concludes that our hearts may never find themselves where they truly deserve to be: 'true love lives in haunted attics, and true love lives on lollipops and crisps - just don't leave'.
Verdict:
Radiohead's constant evolution comes not only from their restless creativity, but is driven by the fact that they're naturally in a state of constant flux. Radiohead have stayed on top of their game because not since The Beatles has a band covered so much terrain over their career. You could say that each album is a violent reaction against its predecessor, but essentially after ever record, they reduce themselves to rubble and start building again. That's why there are 'eras' of Radiohead, because they become a new band on every record. But every evolution is essential, and never contrived.
While The King Of Limbs was a fairly skeletal affair from a band who admit that they were 'in transition', A Moon Shaped Pool sees the band land in their assumed destination - blooming around the bare roots that led them here, and breathing new air and life into the haunted claustrophobia of their last record. While there are echoes of all the highlights from across their legacy, album No.9 accentuates them all with an artfully controlled grandeur - with the finer elements adding warmth to some thoroughly lonely themes and aesthetics.
For a band who have already come to both defy and define genre at every turn, having torn up the map of where music should lead them, Radiohead now take a turn down a previously untrodden, sumptuous garden path. Not that they have anything left to prove, but A Moon Shaped Pool is proof that they still have so much give.
