Album review: In Rainbows - Radiohead
- Posted on October 12, 2007 3:57 PM
- 0 comments
- Zarina Raja
I’m going to push aside the speculation about Radiohead spontaneously announcing that their album would be out in a matter of days after the message was posted on a Radiohead forum that simply read:
Hello everyone.
Well, the new album is finished, and it's coming out in 10 days;
We've called it In Rainbows.
Love from us all.
I would also like to sweep past the fact that it could be downloaded for free. This is obviously going to have an effect on the record industry in the future, but all I am concerned with is the music.
The album title In Rainbows could tempt Radiohead fans into thinking that maybe this album will be light and colourful – maybe Thom Yorke has entered a poppy phase and his voice will sprawl itself over a sparkling array of chirpy lyrics and upbeat drums. Thankfully, it didn’t. Radiohead record's better always be riddled with that glorious low, melancholic tone, cut by Thom York’s angelic voice - or I don’t want to know.
The first song, 15 Step, is a track that clatters with a tinny drum and is dominated by Thom’s vocals. A repetitive guitar plays over and over in the background, faintly and undisturbed, whilst a quick bass line is brought in half way through. Not a spectacular start to the album, but I don’t think that I have come to terms with the fact that Radiohead have taken a dramatic step away from albums like Pablo Honey and The Bends.
The second track, Body Snatchers, grabs my attention. The pace of the album immediately speeds up; the guitars adorn the track with a variety of zig zagging chords that shoot across it, bringing it to life and finishing abruptly. The glaringly obvious thing about In Rainbows (and at the risk of sounding pretentious) is its depth. In other words, each song is layered with instruments that sneak in on the second or third time of listening. The first time round, you may be struck by the crackling of a guitar, but when you listen again, you become mesmerized with the tinkling of a piano or the low murmour of a cello.
Nude, the third song on the album, also got my full attention with its eerie bass guitar, heavily blended with a low moaning sound and the seductive whoosh of Thom Yorke’s voice rustling through the song – at last, here’s the angst that I desire in a Radiohead track. This is the kind of song that conjures up dark imagery, ‘you’ll go to hell for what you did…’ I have been completely swallowed up by the Radiohead rainbow and I am definitely on my way to finding the gold.
The fifth song, All I Need is even better. It leans towards a vague Portishead vibe, with a grave bass that thumps and is masked by various other willowy sounds, causing me to float in to the vocals and tingling noises. All I Need draws to an end with a hypnotic climax as all the instruments lose themselves in a desperate richness. Amazing.
As the album continues, it keeps its sombre tone (really?) and has thankfully lost the chattering, drum beat that In Rainbows begun with. Song seven, Reckoner, trips into an echoing and slightly mystical world. It’s intensity is swathed in light violins, giving it a divine air. Reckoner is the kind of song that should be played at the end of a devastating film, whilst torrentail rain is streaming down over its twinkling city.
House Of Cards is not one of the best songs on the album. It is streamlined and empty, with nothing to sink your self into. Jigsaw, however, makes up for this previous transparent track by conflating a funky bass line under Thom’s faster vocals. Thom finally stretches his voice to illustrate that succulent, desperate tone that divides Radiohead from so many other bands. At this point in the album, all listeners will have surrendered themselves to Thom and his magic.
Videotape is the last song on the album. It brings In Rainbows to a slow end, winding down with a piano led track. Thom glides though it and pulls his listeners along with him, pointing them toward the gleaming gold, glossy under the glory of another brilliant Radiohead album.
What did you think of In Rainbows? Is it the best, the worst or just an average Radiohead album? Make sure you leave us a comment.
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