…Sonic reflections of the contemporary world by Radiohead…
“This is a low flying panic attack”
Five years since their last release and almost twenty years after ‘OK Computer‘, – the album that marked my soul and blew my mind away-, Radiohead are back with a new work of art. ‘A Moon Shaped Pool‘ combines lots of controversial stuff. It’s smooth-sounding but not “easy listening”. It reveals agony and tranquility at the same time. Inner, difficult issues to handle, like a personal loss or a divorce —something that Yorke had to pass through recently— are getting in touch with general troubling subjects of our times such as climate change. Above all though, Radiohead are passing these on to us with beautiful melodies and highly aesthetic compositions, leaving you, in the end, with the feeling that salvation is on the way…
“Red crosses on wooden doors and if you float you burn. Loose talks around tables. Abandon all reason. Avoid all eye contact. Do not react. Shoot the messengers”, sings Thom Yorke in the opening track of the album ‘Burn the witch‘. The truth is that this song and some lyrics come from the past, but today, consciously or subconsciously, these words seem as a statement for the social and political reactions in Europe against the war fleeing refugees from Syria, that keep on arriving to the European shores. ‘Burn the Witch‘ was also the first video announcing the forthcoming album of the Oxford-based band, which was digitally distributed on May 8th.
It was followed by another video, ‘Daydreaming‘, and the second track of the album, introducing us to a surreal dreamworld where “this goes beyond me, beyond you”. In ‘Decks Dark‘ “our darkest hour” is accompanied by tender piano notes and a magnificent last part where the piano becomes more confident and aggressive.
The acoustic guitar grabs the main role in the ‘Desert Island Disk‘ with a “flower-power” riff echoing the 60s. ‘Full Stop‘ emerges with an electronic sound followed by anxious guitars and lyrics. The cellos in ‘Glass Eyes‘ bring back the lullaby-grieving mood that generally exists in the album. The dreamy atmosphere remains at ‘Identikit‘. “The future is inside us”, sings Yorke in the next song, ‘The Numbers‘, and along with imposing strings, Radiohead try to warn us about the ongoing environmental violation and the apocalyptic scenes that may follow if we remain passive. ‘Present Tense‘ and ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief‘ have a soothering intension but some darkness and tense is still there. The album ends with ‘True Love Waits‘, again an older song of the band that has been around for years.
As a closure I would like to mark this. Although both clips of ‘Burn the witch‘ and ‘Daydreaming‘ are pieces of art themselves, all 11 tracks of ‘A Moon Shaped Pool‘ do not really need an image enhancement. This is not an album where you can just let it playing and chit-chat with your friends or cook. Without being a demanding listening this album still needs your concentration. So put on your headphones and allow Radiohead to overflow your mind and soul with their new masterpiece. You won’t regret it…
Yiannis Apostolopoulos