Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool

Radiohead
A Moon Shaped Pool
2016
Google Play

A Moon Shaped Pool is Radiohead's ninth and perhaps their most accessible album. It swirls and builds with a classical bend that is simply beautiful. Radiohead have a time or two written a song that verges on a lullaby but never with this much intent. The album pulls you into itself track after track. "Daydreaming" a six minute and twenty-four second opus closes on some kind of melodic snoring which you would think of as incredibly annoying, but somehow Thom Yokre and crew make it work, and work extremely well. "Decks Dark" has this really special piano line that goes on throughout the track and builds the song into this perfect little thing. Yorke and the boys leave no stone unturned on this record taking it in whichever direction makes the most sense. With "Burn The Witch" being the first track we could assume that this record was going to have the same hurried pace and uneasy feleing that a lot of the more modern Radiohead songs have had, however A Moon Shaped Pool is rarely less than melodic and entrancing. Besides "Ful Stop" and "Burn The Witch" the rest of the tracks really are quite pretty, which is something I never thought I would hear myself saying in regards to Radiohead. This album always feels like it is on the verge of an explosion, building to some eventual full rock out release but that moment never comes, and the more modern Radiohead seems to be less concerned with that raw power and more focused on a well crafted and honed song.

The electric guitar has made a triumphant return on A Moon Shaped Pool adding an element that really felt absent from their previous release. Surprisingly many of these songs have been floating around Radiohead's catalog for awhile now. Seven of the 11 tracks have previously been released in some way or another with "True Love Waits" having been included in their live sets since 1995. There is not an ounce of rust on any of these tracks, and rather than make the songs feel dated the inclusion of strings just elevates the entire piece to another level. "True Love Waits" the final song on the album and is simply a masterpiece of a ballad with the piano tinkling away under Yorke's vaunting vocals. With this album there is not much work that has to be done on the part of the listener, as is the case with many of Radiohead's other albums, instead it is all right there for you ready to access. You aren't left feeling confused or like you need to start a full research project just to enjoy the record. A Moon Shaped Pool just gets better each time you go through it and shows no signs of not continuing to do so. Truly a great piece of work from a band who has been doing it forever.

9.2 out of 10