Andrei Mihai
Well it’s been a while since we said something about Radiohead, but they’re back. Meet the most impressive band of the past year, the guys who came back from nothing – and guess what; now, they’re probably also the gloomiest band of the planet.
The breakthrough for Radiohead on ‘Reckoner’ a song that underwent multiple incarnations on its way to ‘In Rainbows’ came by way of what Jonny Greenwood calls a “big percussion fest.” I’m not sure if he’s right or not, but it’s definitely the way to go for a comeback album. Recording at an old English country house, all five members make a loud, catchy, ear drumming high school type of rock that sounds better than ever.
“And I’m happy to say that success hasn’t changed us at all,” joked Jonny Greenwood, who would rather leave the percussion to Phil Selway’s drums and Thom Yorke’s rhythm guitar.
After self releasing the pay-how-much-you-want ‘In Ranbows’, Radiohead became a synonym of innovation. Oh, and it’s also made them really richer. But they deserve it – for all of us who just love their music. Also, it seems they love it too.
“We still sometimes get overawed by the songs,” said Greenwood. “We’ll get very attached to a song as an idea in its very basic form, but we also know we can’t really leave it like that. So that’s what we spend our time talking about and planning and thinking about. Thom will sit and play ‘Pyramid Song’ on piano, for example, and it’s obviously not finished. It needs a rhythm to propel it along. But what do you do with it and yet not mess it up? So that’s the sort of enjoyable pressure we like to be under.”
