Categories : Music Reviews, Rock + Pop.
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Rating: 4 / 5 Reviewer: Kevin Hartford |
One of the most surprising things about Radiohead’s newest effort, King of Limbs, is how quickly it’s over. With eight songs clocking in at slightly over 37 minutes, you’re more likely to notice that your stereo/computer/MP3 player has looped back to the opening track, ‘Bloom,’ than you are to get even the slightest grasp on what you’ve just heard. If ever there was an album that demanded repeated listens, this is it.
‘Bloom,’ for starters, puts Kid A-ish vocals over a Bjork-like backing track, and it works well. The overly-computerized machinations of Thom Yorke’s voice on ‘Feral’ come off as infectious rather than distracting. And when the band scales things back a bit, as they do on the horn-and-piano ‘Codex,’ the effect is both mournful and pretty. The rest of the album takes a little more time to worm its way into your head.
It would be easy to dismiss King of Limbs as a confusing, too-short mess upon first listen, but Radiohead has the luxury of being one of the most successful bands in the world for more than 15 years now. Considering the heights they’ve reached in the past, their work deserves, warrants, requires more careful consideration. And, really, even OK Computer seemed like a bit much at first. Maybe the band seems more concerned with creating aural textures and sensations than in crafting actual songs – note the repeated emphasis on drummer Phil Selway’s percussion work – but that’s innovation for you.
