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When Radiohead’s new Kid A disc was first unveiled a few months back, the rumour began to circulate that the record was not the new Radiohead album, but an elaborate piss-take, a 48-minute fuck-you to those who had made the band out to be larger than life and twice as meaningful.
All lies, of course. Still, that such a buzz could arise about one of the most ambitious rock records in recent memory says a lot about the current bankruptcy of pop music, and also about what kind of record Radiohead have made in the midst of that scene.
Kid A is baffling and beautiful, a record that has to be listened to repeatedly to make sense but also one that constantly surprises, with precious few straight lines and no real alignment with what’s come before it.
It captures Radiohead in an outrageous mood, operating as if there were no template to follow, no reputation as one of the best guitar bands to live up to. It also emerged out of unusual circumstances – namely, the 16-month circus that followed the release of 1997’s OK Computer.
In fact, more has been written about the process of writing this album – about vocalist Thom Yorke’s post-tour meltdown, his sudden refusal to play vocal guitar rock and the group’s subsequent attempts to reconfigure the way they write and play to keep it interesting – than the songs themselves.
Computer crash Yet while cheerily admitting that things “were well off the rails at points,” Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood insists that once a path was cleared, making Kid A was less of a struggle than you might think.
“I don’t think the process was really any different than it’s ever been,” Greenwood reasons from his Oxford home. “These were all songs that had been written and then arranged. With one or two exceptions, there was nothing written in studio and nothing assembled from sounds. It was all kind of set in stone in terms of melodies and harmonies. The key, though, was just putting it all together.
“That’s always been a huge thing for us, and even more so now. The thing is, any of our songs can be played in so many different ways. We’re just trying to find ways that excite us.”
Goodbye, guitars Kid A’s final song brings that theory into sharp focus. On record, Motion Picture Soundtrack, a song that for years has been played as a frail, guitar-based tune, is completely wrung inside out.
The guitars are gone. Instead, a harmonium wheezes out the melody and then, out of nowhere, in swoop a rolling harp and a spooky choir. Of course.
“It is that obvious to us,” Greenwood laughs. “The songs exist in our heads as definite things, so it’s just a matter of finding sounds like harmonium or harp that fit those things that we all know.
“We were listening to a lot of Alice Coltrane at the time, and for some reason the idea of using something like her harp seemed to work on that song. It’s like how for years I’ve been obsessed with Bitches Brew – in particular the kind of non-trumpet elements to it, and the multiple organs swirling around. We try to emulate elements of people like Alice Coltrane, Mingus or whoever, but it’s informed by what we can’t do – like be jazz musicians or play trumpet or write string parts properly.
“That doesn’t really stop us, though. One thing we’re finding is that when we try to use a method we’ve already used, it won’t work the second time around. You think you’ve got a template, and then you find it’s expired.”
It’s doubtful that those new areas could have been explored without Greenwood. While Yorke’s techno obsession is being credited for Kid A’s unusual direction, Greenwood was the member of Radiohead most comfortable with puttting down his guitar and exploring.
Growing chaos His string and brass arrangements push Kid A into dissonant, unfamiliar territory, with the violins on How To Disappear Completely at times sounding like they’d been left out in the sun too long.
“I love the idea of growing chaos,” he chuckles. “What’s nice is the sound of everybody drifting away together. It’s not at all how strings are typically used in rock music.
“It was a mad experience, though. I had no idea what I was doing. I’d spent three months in my room arranging, and then it was all over in three hours, with me hoping that it didn’t all go horribly wrong.”
So where does all this leave Radiohead? With more than two records’ worth of material in the can, there’s already talk of a new EP to be released next spring featuring songs Greenwood describes as only “slightly more linear.”
What will be truly interesting is the new material Radiohead are currently writing and preparing to record. Kid A is a remarkable step left, and for all the concern about repeating themselves, they now seem free to do whatever they want.
How long their label will put up with ambitious, defiantly uncommercial mood music remains to be seen, but Greenwood is already excited by what’s next.
“If our record collections continue to get wider and wider, I think we’ll continue to get more interesting as a band,” he enthuses. “It’s an exciting time for us.
“To me, Kid A sounds like half of the last record and halfway toward something else. We can really go anywhere now, and that’s a tremendous feeling.”
mattg@nowtoronto.com
RADIOHEAD, with DAN THE AUTOMATOR, at the Air Canada Centre (40 Bay), Tuesday (October 17). Sold out. 870-8000.
