my hearing is just fine, thank you very much…

Bow down to the master.

Here’s some good news for you. There’s a brand spanking new song from Thom Yorke of the almighty Radiohead making its way through the hallowed internets. It’s called Hearing Damage and it’s just lovely. The bad news…? It’s on the soundtrack for the upcoming film New Moon aka the next chapter of the Twilight series. For those of us who liked our vampires a little more scary and less glossy, I understand and empathise. The bad news aside…the song more than makes up for it.

Less experimental than his work on the underrated The Eraser record and a lot more accessible, Yorke goes easy on us and gives us some dark electronic pop that should render the rest of the soundtrack pointless. It’s not quite the head-bopper that Idioteque was but it’s close and one could say that this is more of a mind-bender. I had to play it a couple of times to allow myself to become immersed in the beauty of this track.

If Radiohead of the last ten years has turned you off then you might want to keep it moving but if you’ve found yourself to be continually pleased and inspired by the evolution of the most influential bands of the last twenty years and their resident genius-in-chief then turn this one up…and try to forget what movie soundtrack it’s aligned with.

Thom Yorke on MySpace

“Hearing Damage” by Thom Yorke taken from the forthcoming motion picture soundtrack “New Moon”

a lesson in stealth. by radiohead.

“these are my twisted words
when i feel you still walking
i know i should not look down
but i’m so sick of just talking”

Here’s a question for you. When you’re the best band of your generation and feeling the constant nibbles at your ankles from the likes of lesser beings such as Muse or Coldplay that get ever closer to breaking skin with every bite, what do you do? What do you do when you set the recording industry on its ear (again) with In Rainbows and still the cries of “Overrated!” and “Sellouts!” begin to gnaw at every fibre of your collective being? Well, to borrow a sentiment from the Jam, one can simply say to hell with all of you and start going underground.

The sneaky little buggers that are Radiohead who appear ready to eschew the traditional route of releasing proper physical record and singles altogether have had the unfortunate circumstance occur in a new song being “leaked” to the general public. It’s a track called These Are My Twisted Words and thus far the reactions from fans, nazel-gazers and chin-strokers alie have been mixed thus far. To me personally, I like it. It’s dark. It’s a bit on the sparse side but allows the song to be carried by the most underrated drummer in music today in Phil Selway.

What sounds like could be a simple jam session that got lucky on tape still works. Thom doesn’t say much here but is usually the case. He doesn’t need to but the sounds of caged ghosts trying to escape purgatory that emanate from his throat do the job that the lyrics begin.  Rumour has it that Words will appear on an EP that teh lads will drop this coming week entitled Walls Of Ice. Oh goodie!!

Whatever you may think of the track, I think we can all agree that it’s good to see the kings are on their way back.

“These Are My Twisted Words”, by Radiohead from the rumoured forthcoming EP, “Walls Of Ice”