England's arguably second biggest band, Radiohead, are most lately known for pioneering the "tip jar" method of paying for an .mp3 download of their latest LP, In Rainbows in October 2007. It's said to have been a great success, and not to be estranged of the ever-(d)evolving music distribution system brought on by high-speed internet and crumbling record labels, a brand new song by the quintet from Oxford eaked onto the internet a couple days ago, just a week following "Harry Patch (In Memory Of)," their stringy tribute to England's last surviving World War I veteran, who passed away very recently.
Phil Selway's quick, riding high-hat-and-snare drumline will sound right at home to fans of "Twisted Words"'s closest comparable relative, 2007's "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi." If you're running in the morning, or driving along a forgiving highway on a warm, bright day, Phil has your mood captured and this track should be first on your iPod playlist. Lead guitarist Jonny Greenwood meanders between a handful of chords he picks a string at a time after some early strumming, leaving the listener with a feeling of anxiety and unease as his brother Colin plucks a fuzzy, jerky progression that complements the other instruments nicely. Sometimes it drives, sometimes it rides passenger, but it always stakes its claim in the production.
This bizarre jam plods along to varying emotive effect for over two and a half minutes before Thom Yorke gently broods "These are my twisted words" and a few other despondent, satirically-pedestrian lines that have become his trademark since 1995, with enough reverb backing them to make any indie fanboy happy.
"When are you coming back? I just can't handle it," Yorke shudders out as the brothers Greenwood back him with a steady tenacity, Selway's metronome percussion providing a welcome backbone to the new piece.
It ends as abruptly as it begins, without ever reaching a crescendo, a finale, a point, or whatever you're looking for. Much like their Amnesiac b-side "Cuttooth," "These Are my Twisted Words" manages to ride a pleasing, solid groove for over five minutes and leave you with the kind of satisfied feeling you'd expect after eating a modest dinner you've prepared yourself. It doesn't climax and explode like "How to Disappear Completely" or "Life in a Glasshouse," but one of the most intriguing things to me about 2007's In Rainbows (and this new track) was how simply enjoyable and pleasant the whole album was without Kid A's minimalism or OK Computer's utter portending apocalypse.
Nobody knows for sure what this song is leading up to, if anything. Radiohead have toyed at the idea of releasing three or four songs together physically and/or online as little EP releases lately in interviews, and it's been said that Thom Yorke will be contributing a song to the newTwilight movie, not to mention the cryptic message and August 17 release date mentioned in a .nfo file accompanying the leaked .mp3 that brought this song to the world, but I for one am thrilled to have it to listen to, sing along with and casually throw onto future mixtapes.
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