Radiohead Are Back With A Superb Record

The first thing to note about A Moon Shaped Pool is how muted it is. There are no barnstorming avant-jazz workouts like 'The National Anthem', and there are most definitely no nuclear-powered guitar assaults like 'Just' or 'My Iron Lung'. Instead, this is an album of delicate acoustic folk and moody avant electronica, all underscored by lush orchestral arrangements.
The album kicks off – or rather, shuffles tentatively into life – with the two singles, 'Burn The Witch' and 'Daydreaming'. The former is orchestral art-pop underpinned by skittering electro rhythms, while the latter is a gorgeous piano ballad. Both are notable for the vintage videos that have accompanied them: 'Burn The Witch' getting a Wickerman-inspired, stop-motion animation clip; meanwhile, PT Anderson provided some suitably surreal visuals for 'Daydreaming'.
Next up is the dark electro lullaby, 'Decks Dark', followed by the beautiful acoustic tune 'Desert Island Disk', which finds Thom Yorke in decidedly Zen mood: “Wind rushing round my open heart / An open ravine and my spirit wide / Totally alive.” The centrepiece of the album, and the standout track, is 'Ful Stop', which in the best Radiohead tradition, finds the group drawing on eclectic musical reference points to create something totally unique.
The first half of the track is propelled by an unsettling krautrock rhythm, over which are layered majestic, Vangelis-like synths. The central refrain, meanwhile, finds Yorke scolding, “You really messed up this time.” Midway through, the songs shifts into a hypnotic jazz groove, and its overall ambition and imagination makes it a classic in the Radiohead canon.
Elsewhere, the record doesn't provide anything quite as amazing, although there are strong moments in the spectral art-rock of 'Identikit', the avant electronica track 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Thief' (a tune which suggests Yorke is still on the Warp Records mailing list), and the concluding song, 'True Love Waits'. The former has been reworked from its previous live incarnation, as a Yorke solo acoustic number, into a dreamy piano suite, overlaid with a hazy production gauze – the musical equivalent of Super 8 film – that echoes the likes of Boards Of Canada and Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti.
A Moon Shaped Pool may not belong in the front rank of Radiohead albums, but it's still a superb record. Thematically, its exploration of alienation and tech paranoia makes it a true 21st century piece of work, and an ideal companion-piece to last year's best TV show, Mr Robot, which was practically OK Computer reimagined as an episodic series. Hopefully, the album will be followed in short order by an Irish date – it's been too long since we've seen you, boys.