Thom Yorke - The Eraser (XL)
4/5
By: Thomas Hannan
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I know, I know - judge the work on its own merit and not on that of the author. But sometimes the creator and the created are so intertwined, especially when the project has such a perfectionist, personal feel about it as this one, that it's impossible to think of the art without simultaneously thinking of the artist. And when you think of Thom Yorke, you inevitably think of one thing - Radiohead.
So thoughts on 'The Eraser' will inevitably be loaded ones - is it as good as a Radiohead record, what does his setting out on his lonesome mean for the future of the band, what predictions, if any, can we make based on the sound of it as to the shape of the new LP by his most celebrated medium of output... Try as you might (and I did), you can't help but narrate these niggling questions to yourself whilst trying to enjoy 'The Eraser' for simply what it is - a really rather good record, all told.
It'd be easier to cleanse the 'R' word from one's mind if this sounded markedly different to anything that band had offered in the past. In truth, it really doesn't - the parallels between this, 'Kid A' and 'Amnesiac' are blatantly obvious. Conclusions to be drawn? One - Yorke claims one heck of a lot of responsibility for the sound of both of those marvellous records. Two - guitars are not about to make a comeback (fine - you've already got 'The Bends', why do you want another one?). 'The Eraser' is full of the products of delicate, almost too fragile drum machine loops, queer clicking and clacking and gentle atmospherics (as those two previously mentioned records consisted largely of, and here 'And It Rained All Night' exemplifies), overlaid with Yorke's often imitated but never equalled warble and a heavy reliance on what seems to be a new found admiration for a peculiar bass line.
It's a blueprint on which each song is built, but how he manages to fill out each sketch is what's clever about it. Those basic ingredients allow Yorke to tackle everything from barmy, tranquil pop on the title track to the troubled, slap-bass heavy 'Harrowdown Hill', and it's a tactic that holds the album together brilliantly, songs each feeling like they share a vision rather than suffering from the monotony that having to draw on the same template often leaves lesser composers in. Thom remains a fantastic singer (the control on his voice on a falsetto heavy 'Atoms For Peace' something to behold), but more importantly both an excellent songwriter and pioneer - the only time you'd expect melodies as abnormal as these to fit so comfortably in what is itself a decidedly odd locale would be on something like a Radiohead record. Oh. Right.
Essentially, rather than trying to escape the day job, this is Thom seeing what happens if he's the only one to go in to the office. In short, it's a fifth of a Radiohead album. Guess that means their next LP's worth twenty stars, then...
Artists in this article: Thom Yorke
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