I know on some level I was aware that Radiohead were expected to release a new album this year, but I was still surprised that they chose to bypass the whole media circus of promoting the album before its relsase. They announced it on a Monday, and the album was released on the same Friday. Nothing was given in advance to any media outlet. Everyone downloading the album at the same time, and forming their own opinions without being told what to think by magazine reviewers and radio presenters.
Radiohead are on tested ground here. The release of their 2007 album In Rainbows followed a similar plan, although there is one notable difference. In 2007 Radiohead allowed fans to pay whatever they wanted to pay for a download of the album. Unfortunately because the band are free of any record company scrutiny it's impossible to know how successful this policy was. For the release of The King Of Limbs the band has (perhaps tellingly) set the price for the download. Of course in our modern communication age anyone who wants to get the album for free will easily find ways to do so.
This kind of release is great. It's exciting to know you're among the first to listen to something (even if 'the first' number in their millions), and the miniscule amount of time between announcement and release means that you barely have time to digest the information that there will be new Radiohead before it's bubbling its way out of the headphones of your mp3 player. The one caveat of this kind of release is you need to be one of the biggest bands in the world for it to work. The only people picking up your new album are your die hard fans. Nobody can walk past a display in a record shop and pick your album up on speculation. Nobody sees a commercial on television and puts your CD on their birthday list, nobody hears your song over the emotive closing scene of a televised drama and is so affected by it they just have to find the album. There's probably fewer than a dozen bands who could do this with any kind of success. Fortunately for them Radiohead number among those lucky few.
So enough about the sneak attack release strategy. How's the album? Allow me to answer with a question: Do you like Radiohead? If the answer is yes, then you'll like The King Of Limbs. Radiohead have been releasing music for nearly 20 years now, and as a result they're very accomplished musicians. The eight tracks on offer here are all richly layered, with wide brushstrokes of electronica. Some reflect a manic twitchiness (Bloom, Feral), some are quietly beautiful (Codex, Give Up The Ghost), and some are dark and captivating (Lotus Flower, Morning Mr. Magpie). If however you don't like Radiohead this album won't change your mind.
If you're not sure whether or not you like Radiohead I wouldn't start here. In Rainbows is a much more accessible album. But what The King Of Limbs lacks in approachability it more than makes up for in depth. I've listened to the album a number of times since I downloaded it, and the songs reveal themselves a little at a time, with the result that the album sounds a little different every time you listen to it.
I have a couple of interesting side notes to add. Firstly you should check out the video for Lotus Flower. It's a great metaphor for the album, what at first seems like manic twitching reveals itself to be closely choreographed and captivating.
The other thing is that synth pop band Robotanists have covered the whole album, and what's more they covered it within 24 hours of the album's release. It's interesting to hear the same songs with different instrumentation and somebody other than Thom Yorke singing. Due to their self imposed time constraints they haven't radically altered or interpreted the songs. Some of it is a little rough, but they're not charging you anything to download it, so it's worth having as a curio if nothing else (and who doesn't like a cover?).
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