Wow. Ok. Fuck it, this is a new Radiohead album. Doesn't happen all that often, so I'm going to type out some disorganized (and probably shitty) track by track first impressions here.
SPOILERS! SPOILERS!
Bloom:
The first little twinkling notes are lovely, but they're quickly covered up by a sort of frantic, off-kilter, almost abrasive and ugly drumbeat. One of those twitchy rhythms that we've heard on The Eraser, and other things. Not sure what to make of it. Thom singing something about "...the ocean blue, it's what keeps me alive..." Cool, simple little bass line underneath everything.
Morning Mr. Magpie:
More direct, right from the start. "You got some nerve comin' here." Definitely one of my favorites on first listen. "You stole it all, give it back."
The chorus made me smile. The image of Thom Yorke walking up to a tiny little bird in the morning and greeting him, perhaps with a tip of the hat, is funny. And cool.
Little By Little:
"Little by little, by hook or by crook. I'm such a tease, and you're such a flirt."
Pretty good. So far, none of this is exactly my preferred style of Radiohead.
Feral:
It's official. We have a fucking weird Radiohead album on our hands. Whoa. Thom's vocals are all fucked up. Crazy echo effect on there. More twitchy drums. Not destined to be a favorite song, at all. But that's just me. Cool title, though.
Lotus Flower:
Pretty melody, probably the purest so far. Sounds like his In Rainbows voice. It's going to need more listens, obviously, like everything on the album. I get the feeling that there's shit going on under the surface, that will become more apparent later. Probably should be listening to this on headphones. Oh well. For instance, the bass line here on this song. It sounds like it could be awesome, but it also sounds very low in the mix.
Codex:
Piano!
A traditional instrument! Yes!
And the song is gorgeous. My favorite on first listen. Fucking Codex, everybody. And, at the end, we get the sounds of birds and insects chirping which flows seamlessly into the next track...
Give Up The Gun:
Acoustic guitar!
Another traditional instrument!
"Don't hurt me."
This gets progressively more spooky as it goes along, Lots of layered vocals, along with the spare guitar. Yeah, this is pretty good.
Separator:
"If you think this is over, then you're wrong."
Prominent drumbeat. Nice guitar comes in halfway through. Hmmmm.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, this is a strange album. I'm also fairly sure that it's very good. Just don't know where it is on the scale of "very good," yet. I don't think it will end up being a personal favorite RH album, but who knows. I'm going to have a cigarette, probably go out and buy a cup of coffee, and then I'm going to listen to it again.
It's not nearly as immediate as In Rainbows. For a band filled with at least three excellent electric guitar players, there is very little electric guitar. And, like I said, that drumming style is not exactly my favorite, although I don't hate it either.
As far as just first listens go, it's probably their least immediate and accessible album. Well, maybe Amnesiac was a bit tougher.
But this album will not be easy. People will dislike this. I'm totally going to stop typing now. Much love, everybody. Hope everybody has fun, stays safe, and has a good day. Peace.
