A Light For Attracting Attention
by The Smile

From Strangel TOP 100 COMMENTER 05/13/2022 06:04 | #285266 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

After hearing the live versions of these songs I was just grateful that Jonny and Thom were able to come together and have fun collaborating again with so much passion, creativity and energy. Now, listening to the recorded version, I’m reminded that Nigel Godrich is that extra element that always ties the genius’ together. Tom Skinner also holds his own amongst the highly esteemed company he keeps. There is haunting beauty, political cynicisms, electronic and percussive tinkering, and garage rocking, making it a very eclectic mix. Does it make it a less than cohesive album? Maybe, if you’re picky. This and the fact that 6 songs were drip-fed to us prior to release make it have the feel of a compilation album in some respects. I’ve always preferred an album have one single prior to release, as a taster, before immersing yourself into the full experience of fresh songs and letting that album experience grow on you with repeated listens. This doesn’t detract, however, from the fact that there is a collection of songs here that are all absolute crackers and will keep Radiohead fans content for a while longer until that deeply desired next LP comes around.

Amazing album. I love how each track feels inspired in its own unique way: none of them is filler by any stretch of the imagination and in every song there's always something interesting going on rhythmically and/or harmonically. There are many different atmospheres and moods shifting through the album: the already familiar A Moon Shaped Pool-esque calmness (Pana-Vision, Speech Bubbles, Open The Floodgates), a more complex, claustrophobic, anxiety inducing mood (A Hairdryer, Thin Thing), a new kind of funkiness (The Opposite, The Smoke) and a more straight-up rock sound (YWNWITA, WDKWTB). Some may find that the diversity between the songs kinda makes the album a bit uneven and scattered. However, I think that the songs flow pretty well into each other thanks to a very good production.

From thirstyDog 06/24/2022 21:02 | #286645 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Love Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood? Now you can listen an entire album of Thom thom-yorking and Jonny jonny-greenwooding!
I'd rather hear them radioheading, but this is pretty good too

From Strangel TOP 100 COMMENTER 05/20/2022 03:23 | #285550 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

One of the things I have found to be impressive about the album is that Yorke’s voice doesn’t sound tired, or diminished, in any way. Listen to the opening of Speech Bubbles. That ethereal voice touches a chord deep down and it’s immaculate.

If this were a Radiohead album, it would be by far their worst. And wouldn't feel up to the standard of Radiohead's stellar discography. So I'm glad it isn't. But ignoring the Radiohead comparisons, it's a decent but unspectacular album in its own right. No real standout tracks, but my favourites are The Opposite, Pana-vision, Speech Bubbles. (Edited)