Stirrings in the twisted woods...

There have been some unsettled rumblings in the Radiohead camp as of late. After a year of quiet following their massive outdoor tour last summer, the last few weeks have seen a typical music press flurry of speculation over the ‘will-they-won’t-they?’ question of a new EP, following the massive overreaction to the recent announcement that (shock!) they won’t be releasing a new album any time soon. To be fair to them, it was nearly five years between Hail To The Thief’s release and the emergence of In Rainbows. I guess we can forgive them if it takes that long again if it ends up as fantastic as In Rainbows and its sister material turned out to be.

All of this having been said, their stirring - if a little uninspiring - orchestral tribute to the final British World War One veteran, ‘Harry Patch (In Memory Of)’ was made available through W.A.S.T.E a few weeks ago and today another newie has appeared – for free this time - entitled ‘These Are My Twisted Words’.

And it’s pretty great, in classic late Radiohead style, driven by a relentless jazz drum workout above which spiraling guitars descend at slow pace, as if hanging in stasis. As with much of their post-Kid A work, it’s the drumming that really does it for me here – it drones, but at such a heightened pace that it lends the entire song an eerie urgency that serves to ratchet up tension that is never really resolved, as the music suddenly drops out, leaving momentum lurching into the closing silence. It certainly bodes well for future releases – and the potential new EP that may or may not appear in the not too distant future. In characteristic form, who really knows anyway?