Vol. 3, No. 12, December 2007
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In Rainbows
Radiohead, Self Released
Right now a digital download is the only way to get this album; it’s independently distributed and you can’t buy it in stores. The CD will be available in January and Radiohead also plans to release a deluxe 12-inch double vinyl with eight additional tracks.
Now here’s the better news: It’s a really good album—their best since 1996’s OK Computer. The band officially began working on In Rainbows back in 2005 but hardcore Radiohead fans should already know much of the material on this new record as Thom Yorke and company have been performing some of the songs at various tour dates over the past seven years. The studio versions are different from the live versions. The first single is “Jigsaw Falling into Place” (which was previously known as “Open Pick”). Radiohead devotees may be familiar with the distorted version that the band played on tour, but the studio version is much more mellow and relies primarily on acoustic guitar.
Other songs are similar only in title, like “Reckoner” which was also the working title of the album before In Rainbows was settled upon. The studio version of “Reckoner” features a lot of tambourine and has a spooky cave feel juxtaposed with Yorke’s howling voice. Yorke sings like a bellydancer moves. His vocals evoke that defining moment that happens in every indie film you’ve ever seen where the protagonist responds to a call to action. The mood is expansive and intimate in equal measure. The album as a whole has a much more melodic, sunny feel to it than some of the distorted experimentation of the past.
The music industry is currently trying to gauge the impact of Radiohead’s free offering. If you paid $16 for Kelly Clarkson or Avril Lavigne, you should probably send Radiohead a few hundred thousand dollars for In Rainbows.
