Whoops – uploaded Hollow Earth twice. The Four Tet remix is up now.
When this leaked about…36 hours ago, I was under the impression it was another one of Yorke’s/Radiohead’s stealth leaks. I’d completely forgotten that this 12″ had been previous announced and was expected, shows how out of the loop I’ve been of late. Or perhaps it’s just the band’s revolutionary way of delivering content changing my expectations of the music industry to the extent that I have no real desire or need to remember silly things like release dates. Yeah, that’s it.
The two songs are really what you’d expect from Yorke. Nervy, skittering, minimal IDM driven by pulse-like programmed beats coupled with a good dose of Thom’s trademark nihilism delivered through typically oblique lyrics.
The tracks are very much b-side quality, there’s nothing here to top the heights of The Eraser, though of course that still means they’re considerably better than most non-Radiohead stuff that gets posted and any dose of Yorke or Radiohead is more than welcome.
Both tracks are big on bass, Horses is probably the more expansive of the two, in length and texture; the reverb on the beats is only outdone by that on Yorke’s own voice which floats about the relentless march of the bassline, though, at six and a half minutes, it’s probably a little long on run-time and short on ideas. Hollow Earth, my preferred of the two, is a tighter, more typically Eraserish affair that has delightfully skittering beats that layer and intertwine on top of one another whilst Yorke pulls out his more sensuous croon over a bassline groove.
And if these are the songs that could end up appearing on the *shudder* new Twilight soundtrack, there’s no discernible compromise of sound or introduction of a pop sensibility to his songwriting. I can’t imagine ether being a suitable soundtrack to a saccharine love scene or some scene of great inconceivable angst – there’s plenty of Radiohead songs that I can think of that would serve that goal much better, but still the rumours persist.
MP3: Thom Yorke – The Hollow Earth
MP3: Thom Yorke – Atoms For Peace (Four Tet Remix)
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