ALBUM: Radiohead ‘A Moon Shaped Pool’

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So, erasing their entire internet presence and releasing a new album with two days’ notice is probably the most Radiohead-like stunt that Radiohead could’ve pulled. A Moon Shaped Pool is an eerie, puzzling triumph that exudes passion and anxious ambivalence throughout.

Thom Yorke is definitely not one to wear his heart on his sleeve, but he slithers tenderly between each desolate track with such raw emotion – he croons an anxious “i feel this love run cold” as the beautifully bleak ‘Glass Eyes’ fades out.

We were all lulled into a sense of false security by lead single ‘Burn the Witch’. It was a deceptive slice of classic Radiohead; full of vicious cellists and spiraling chorus’ that in no way prepared us for what was about to come.

The album does take an unexpected turn and the “people have the power” in the funky, bass driven ‘The Numbers’ that provides us with one of the few, somewhat uplifting moments of the album, thanks to the brilliant Jonny Greenwood.

But perhaps the biggest surprise of all and without a doubt, the highlight of the album. Thom Yorke has finally recorded live favorite ‘True Love Waits’ but with a twist, as he lets the ending fade blissfully into a chorus of quivering pianos that skilfully but effortlessly draw Radiohead’s eerie, puzzling triumph to a close.

A Moon Shaped Pool is out now via XL Recordings.

Abbi Parcell
@abbilennon