By: Darien Campo Staff Writer
Last week, Radiohead’s manager Brian Message announced that the band’s ninth album would be released on June 11. Fans around the world collectively rejoiced.
A few days later Radiohead released a statement saying that “Brian Message is not Radiohead’s manager […] any quotes from last night’s event […] should not be attributed to Radioh
ead’s management.” And fans around the world collectively groaned.
As one of the groaning fans, I have no idea where we stand at this point. All I know for sure is that sometime in the near future (probably (hopefully)) Radiohead is releasing a brand new album.
In the meantime, I’ve been playing my all-time favorite Radiohead release, “Kid A,” on repeat.
Released almost 16 years ago, “Kid A” marked Radiohead’s first dramatic transition from guitar-driven rock to the more ambient/electronic vibes of their latter releases. It’s hard to have a middle-of-the-road opinion of this album. Fans either loved the drastic shift in composition from their previous release, 1997’s “OK Computer,” or they felt betrayed that Radiohead’s newest work tends to sound more like electronica and dance music instead of rock songs. Context made this album so groundbreaking in 2000, but even today the music holds up as strongly as ever.
Even with a new sound, “Kid A” faithfully continues the work left off with “OK Computer” with its tone of synthesized calm. The cover art shows a vast landscape of snow and mountains, and just over the horizon we can see a forest in the distance burning to the ground. Through these songs, we get the feeling that something terribly wrong is happening, but the lyrics attempt to put up a front of forceful serenity that comes off as almost more frightening.
If you haven’t listened to this record in a while, or even if you’ve never heard it before, now is a great time to pick it up. Songs like “Everything In Its Right Place” and “Idioteque” give me chills everytime I hear them. “Kid A” was a marvelous step forward for Radiohead, and is now considered a defining album in their collection. Radiohead has said that their last album, “King of Limbs,” was a transitional period for them. With what little we’ve heard from members of the band, Radiohead’s (possible) upcoming release just might be another gamechanger for the band.
