Radiohead
In Rainbows

This album, which no one physically owns yet, is probably the most anticipated of the last half-decade, if not more.

First of all, "In Rainbows" is a work that was born and grew in front of everyone's eyes, thanks to the blog "Dead Air Space," where the band members posted for about two years their ideas, their doubts, the lyrics of their songs, but also hidden and cryptic messages, artworks (will they be used for the discbox or not? Who knows), images, short videos, audio clips.
From this point of view, the birth was long and painful, considering that the first posts date back to August 2005. On the other hand, this move turned out to be very successful, managing to attract the attention of fans and the media for a long time and arousing the interest of many. There were uncertainties, particularly regarding the production and the record contract.

Initially, the five guys from Oxford relied on Mark Stent, and then turned back to the trusty Nigel Godrich, perhaps pushed away due to the disappointing result in the production of "Hail To The Thief" (2003), an album that Thom Yorke himself disowned. What that album truly lacked was not the quality of the tracks, which were very good, but rather a binding element, a common thread, that eventually made the album appear flat and not very engaging. We will see later how this issue will be brilliantly overcome by the group.

But the biggest surprise concerns the record contract; after numerous reports of publication being postponed to 2008 due to the lack of a contract, in early October the album's release is announced for the 10th of the month. The news comes from a website the band had previously distanced themselves from. A clever and sudden maneuver that stirred up a commotion. The album, in fact, is released without a record label, and it is available in two versions. The first version in mp3 can be downloaded from the group's website at a price that the user decides, a revolutionary move that gives a strong boost to online music sharing; the second version of "In Rainbows," the physical one, can be pre-ordered directly from their site and shipped in a box set with 2 vinyls, a second disc of bonus tracks, and booklets with photos and lyrics, for £40. It has also been declared that at the beginning of next year there will be an ordinary distribution of the album, so as not to force the public to buy the discbox, which remains a costly item for avid fans.

"In Rainbows" is thus, beyond its musical value, an album that will certainly be remembered.
The band has shown itself in this case to be avant-garde, both in media and commercial terms. The Dead Air Space initiative, crucial for launching such a significant operation, should not be forgotten. The Radiohead blog sparked the interests of many people over two years, laying the groundwork for the online launch of the work. After about ten days of debates, criticisms, and praises, we can finally listen to the ten tracks that make up the group's seventh effort.

The uniformity of sounds is immediately noticeable; the tracks are linked by a well-defined and recurring musical quality. The presence of numerous orchestrated parts emerges strongly, especially with strings and many arrangements on acoustic guitar.
It is evident that the Radiohead wanted to emphasize this aspect, having been burned by their previous studio experience. This desire to create a compact and uniform album is particularly evident in their choice to leave excellent tracks like "Last Flowers", "Go Slowly", or "Down Is The New Up" on the bonus disc. This decision is deemed by many as a cornerstone of Yorke and friends' new creative season, as well as an inspiration for numerous artworks by Stanley Downhood. What emerges is a more balanced and relaxed mood, directly born from the refined pop of "Ok Computer" but filtered through the versatile and all-encompassing experience of "Kid A/Amnesiac." The new electronic skills, which already did not impress much in 2003, are almost entirely removed. But what remains is a richness of musical textures and striking arrangements that made the band's early millennium albums successful.

The track most reminiscent of past experimentalism is "15 Step", a tumultuous and pulsating opening that vaguely recalls "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors". The persistent beat is mixed with Yorke's broken and emphatic singing. Johnny Greenwood's languid guitar intervenes only later with its subliminal touch, imprinting a different and more reflective mood to the melody. The complexity of the musical fabric, rich in digital effects, children's screams, spectral reverberations, and subtle synth layers, is noteworthy. An excellent start, full of sharp sounds. We barely have time to absorb the obsessive beat of the opening track when "Bodysnatchers" bursts with all its bloodthirsty energy. A raw riff and an urgent rhythm support an almost post-punk delirium. A thicket of sounds that progressively thickens until the middle break, then resumes with greater force until reaching the destructive finale. Probably the roughest and most biting song in the entire Radiohead repertoire. A true gem.

With the third track, we return to familiar paths. The magnificent "Nude", several years old, is the new "Exit Music" of the band. An evanescent lullaby floating in the ether, accompanied by the gentle shades of strings that sway like the sea, swelling and continuously disappearing, and a minimalistic drum. A top-quality piece that adds to the band's long series of masterpieces. We are on absolute peaks, a true open-heart song. Radiohead took many years to find the definitive form for this precious gem, but listening to it, we understand why. The vocal performance is chilling and the arrangement highlights its qualities. Irreproducible.

The fourth track is the most complex. "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" has as its main theme an intertwining of arpeggios (as the title suggests), already very disorienting in itself, intersected with an elegiac and sweet melody. All is woven into a crescendo of pathos, with mellotron incursions, electronic effects, and keyboard carpets continuously overlapping. The sound volume continually grows, in a mad race that suddenly implodes. A nearly progressive track for its instrumental blossoming. The brilliance of the sounds recalls "Subterranean Homesick Alien", while the soaring singing takes inspiration from the invective of the chorus of "The Tourist". Probably this is the song from "In Rainbows" with the most references to "Ok Computer". One of the most intense moments of the work.

"All I Need" maintains the subdued atmospheres of "Nude", but does so with less transcendental flair. A dark reverberation alternates with bell-like tones; then a vibrant murmur bestows a touch of darkness on the track that, in a blaze of sounds, suddenly grows in the finale. The melodic structure is bland, sly, reflective; only to explode in a cathartic and stunning finale. After five rich and sonic tracks, the splendid "Faust Arp" arrives, serving as a relaxed and minimal interlude.
Indeed, we find Yorke delighting us with a magical nursery rhyme in the style of Syd Barrett, full of alliterations and repetitions, which then shifts into an acoustic ballad in pure Beatles style. The strings magnificently support the plucked guitar, with abrupt full and empty moments.

We pick up again with the trip-hop rhythm of "Reckoner", upon which a dilated melody is embroidered, perhaps too much. Nonetheless, some falsetto passages remain valuable, especially at the rhythmic break point. Perhaps less engaging than the others, but certainly a good track. We thus arrive at "House Of Cards", where the blurry melody is precisely intended to contrast the highlighted rhythm. The track itself is not particularly interesting, were it not for the series of ideas and effects it undergoes. Bass lines suddenly emerging, buzzes, strings, echoes, background choruses. In short, a very strange and challenging track to pin down. Maybe the structure is intentionally static and repetitive to allow the band to indulge in modifying and distorting the sounds.

After two tracks hinting at a slight drop in intensity, "Jigsaw Falling Into Place" known also as "Open Pick" arrives. And it's a flood of memories. The mind is drawn back to the melodies on the verge of a nervous breakdown from "The Bends". A grand songwriting showcase, a posthumous tribute to '90s English pop, where intense melody reigns, with a change in tone, initially sharp and bittersweet, then frantic and unstable. Perhaps the driest and most straightforward episode of the album.

The finale is entrusted to the droning lullaby of "Videotape". The most crystalline melody of all, tainted by concrete noises, electronic loops, and an unusual rhythm that slowly emerges, eventually suffocating Yorke's splendid elegy. The piano expresses extreme solitude, surpassed only by the robotic and icy beat that dominates it.

"In Rainbows" thus resumes the refined pop of "Ok Computer"; but it does so with a uniformity of sounds and moods very close to "Kid A". We are quite far from the depressed existentialism of the '97 work; rather, an equilibrium is sought, both formal and emotional. The disruptive tracks that made that album so lively and engaging are indeed absent.
This emotional conflict is absent in this album, but the quality of the tracks and arrangements does not envy the best pop episodes of the group. This does not mean I'm talking about a formulaic work, because there are still exciting and vivid episodes; rather, this work was done by people with a much more calm and balanced psychological status compared to the past.

A uniform, compact work, without any significant qualitative drop. An operation of full substance, without any avant-garde pretentiousness. Indeed, compared to the two more experimental, surely more creative, albums, the band does not hide behind form like in "Amnesiac," nor behind the concept as in "Kid A". In this sense, Radiohead have only taken the best from each of their albums.
The fact that they resume past pop does not prevent the band from introducing some elements that are almost new for the five. Indeed, the new passion for orchestrations and the massive use of strings is evident. The "Kid A/Amnesiac" experience proves formative for the development of new musical textures. The brilliant and magnificent sounds of "Ok Computer" are replaced by an orchestral-acoustic plot, supported by a very rich palette of sounds. The electric effects, the echoes, the synths, the distortions, and so on.

"In Rainbows" is therefore an excellent compendium of all the experiences that have marked Radiohead's career. Nothing particularly innovative; but managing to blend the different instances of the band with such uniformity and naturalness is not an easy task. In this sense, the album is fully satisfying and successful.