07.22.06

Chalk Dust on a Sound Board

Posted in Music at 12:02 am by Moody

Thom Yorke: The Eraser

The first don’t-call-it-a-solo album from Radiohead frontman, Thom Yorke, could be considered fittingly titled. It is apparent — based on reviews of recent performances by the band — that Radiohead’s sound is in some sort of transition. When it comes, fans may expect a new direction or some form of evolution from the band. But The Eraser is in keeping, directionally, with the last three albums the full band have released.

This is not a failing, per se. Yorke has provided a solid album of pretty much exactly the kind of music you’d probably like to hear from him (though minus Jonny Greenwood’s more distinctive marks). His work falls between and is reminiscent of Plaid’s and Lullatone’s, and, as noted by another reviewer, there are elements of Autechre in the mix. Sounds are chopped up, sliced, diced, mixed in a big bowl, and served with dry wine and vinegar attitude and the silky goat cheese dressing that is Yorke’s unmistakable, now-plaintive/now-wry voice, though certainly Yorke stretches his voice this time around, which is a welcome thing. His voice is lovely, ethereal, pained, bored — and, regardless of the mood, always on cue, even when the mood drifts into the realm of the droll, which it does infrequently.

All of this to say that The Eraser is a good album, a nice addition to the Radiohead collection you’ll never sell, but it is not an obviously innovative or bloody brilliant album. No, it is simply better than anything that, say, Chris Martin could put out.

Perhaps what we are hearing is Yorke erasing the solid line of progression Radiohead were following, the formula that they had been working with for some while. Perhaps The Eraser is here to sweep away what we’ve previously heard from the full band. If so, it is a fitting way to close a chapter in the band’s career, leaving us all ready and hungry for the next.

I leave it to others to discuss the merits of the cover art (and jigsaw puzzles), the somewhat typically (if not pretentiously) “clever” official site, and why it is that iTunes carries Yorke’s don’t-call-it-a-solo album but none of Radiohead’s. Such (potential) issues don’t add anything to the enjoyment, value, or quality of the album, so far as I am concerned, and did not affect my review.

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