Radiohead reigns

‘The King of Limbs’ sits on throne above other 2011 albums

Raidiohead’s eighth album “The King of Limbs” hit the web as a downloadable release a day earlier than expected on Feb. 18. The band’s shortest album, eight tracks spanning 37 minutes, “The King of Limbs” makes good use of every second. Understated but compelling, creative and intricate, the album as a whole deserves a few solid rotations before making any judgements. The layers of airy vocals, curtains of electronic loops, a range of heavy to muted beats and a beautiful string arrangement make the album’s tracks dynamic individually and at the same time coherent as a whole.

The first track, “Bloom,” opens the album with omniscient sounding electronic loops feeding into airy vocals backed by a quick but quiet snare drum. The combination creates a glistening atmosphere like a warm welcome. “Morning Mr. Magpie” jumps in with energy, a heavier beat and a quicker pace. A steady pulse moves “Little by Little,” winding through a quick beat and looped melody. The word abstract best describes “Feral,” the fourth song on the album. Radiohead experiments with ideas from other genres on this track. The unexpected dubstep influences are an example of this genre mixing. The heavy use of synth on the track “Lotus Flower” builds a nice layer behind the popping beat and spacey vocal effects as Thom Yorke plays around in his voice’s highest register. “Codex” feels like the most monumental track on the record. It features Yorke and his piano accompanied by a mellow, muted beat and some amazing string arrangements performed by The London Telefilmonic Orchestra. This song recalls Radiohead’s ballads that fans are so used to without sounding like something we’ve heard before. The song ends with a chorus of birds merging into the next track, “Give Up the Ghost.” A haunting vocal loop floats over this acoustic track with an occasional percussive tap and simple strumming on the guitar. The closing track to finish out the album, “Separator” opens with a funkier beat and a repetitive piano note, meeting with bright, emotive vocals and a smooth bass background. A floating, drifting kind of sound, the song ends with Yorke’s repetition of the line “wake me up, wake me up.” It leaves on an airy, open, sort of ghostly sound that seems to dissolve as the album ends.

“The King of Limbs” proves that Radiohead can shift sounds, from older albums with gritty, growling attitude to massive ballads to the humming, swirling feeling on their newest release. This atmospheric, understated album doesn’t ask for much attention, but it certainly deserves it.

Posted by Caitlin Renn on Mar 10 2011. Filed under Leisure. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.