There
is a certain goose-bumpy feel to the highly anticipated Hail
to the Thief. It resonates Radiohead's unease at where the
world stands today, while encapsulating a familiarity from
their previous albums. Hail to the Thief is so hot that incomplete
studio versions of the songs were leaked on the internet three
months before its release. You could, at one point, even download
grainy acoustic versions. Rumours abound it was arranged to
be stolen, just to piss off studio executives. However, nothing-absolutely
nothing beats hearing it in its mastered entirety.
Thom
Yorke, like the rest of us was disturbed by 9/11 and its spill
over effect in the world, especially with what went down in
Afghanistan; so much so that he strung lyrics together from
eavesdropping into people's conversations. Thom was also listening
to a lot of radio those days and started taking notes of key
words repeatedly used in the media. Anger shone through, Thom
didn't even bother re-writing the lyrics for 'Go to Sleep',
they appear as he penned them- haplessness dipped in blood.
While the lyrics leave you depressed about how f**ked up the
world is, the music will have the twisted secretly dance behind
the confines of their bedroom doors.
Although the original plan was to take a six month break after
touring for Amnesiac, and spend three months working on this
album, the band spent only seven weeks recording and shaping
Hail to the Thief with producer Nigel Godrich and Graeme Stewart,
who engineered the previous two albums. A guitar fest at its
best, Radiohead's return to their original guitar glory with
Jonny (guitarist) and Colin Greenwood (bass) feels like a
thank-you note to their ever patient guitar rock fans who
felt slightly abandoned with Kid A and Amnesiac. Thom still
mumbles and moans his way through all the songs, Phil Selway
(drums) pounds away with a heavy heart and the handsome Ed
O' Brien is in there, somewhere.
It
is hard to believe Radiohead claims there is no manifesto
attached to the release of their 6th album. The first single
from Hail to the Thief, "There there" is already
stirring up music channels with Thom Yorke, tripping out,
walking through Grimms fairly tale of furry animals smoking
their pipes and being human. As he dons his new coat and boots
that shine and beckon from the innards of a dark forest, he
is attacked by crows. Symbolism plays a heavy hand and there
is no mistaking the message- "just coz you feel it, doesn't
mean it's there".
Hail
to the Thief is overtly political, and questioning, in a satisfying
sort of way where your anxiety about tomorrow has been set
to music.
By Surya Bhattacharya
TRACK
LISTING
1.
2 + 2 = 5
2. Sit Down. Stand up
3. Sail to the Moon
4. Backdrifts
5. Go to Sleep
6. Where I End and You Begin
7. We Suck Young Blood
8. The Gloaming
9. There There
10. I Will
11. A Punchup at a Wedding
12. Myxomatosis
13. Scatterbrain
14. A Wolf at the Door
