Thom Yorke – Confidenza OST
XL Recordings
Thom Yorke’s newest soundtrack opens with “The Huge Metropolis,” an electro-symphonic slumber of synth bleeps and vocal blips. The album ends with “On the Ledge,” which evokes the chic nightmare of a free-jazz brass band strutting down a portal into hell. In case you may time journey again to the strained, exploratory periods for Child A and Amnesiac—his Huge Swing albums with Radiohead, the place he led his bandmates into darkish corridors of sampling, vocal processing, modular synths, and krautrock rhythms—to play him Confidenza, he’d most likely beam from ear to ear.
It reads like hyperbole, given the comparatively low stakes of soundtracks and Yorke’s basic god-like stature, however this challenge appears like a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it flag-plant second. He’s been experimenting with jazz and atmosphere and strings because the days of dial-up modems—from Child A to A Moon Formed Pool up by his more moderen, even wilder work in the Smile—however it’s notable, to borrow a Radiohead phrase, how at ease he sounds right here. There are not any audible guitars, solely a handful of drum grooves, along with his signature falsetto dropped like breadcrumbs all through mazes of synth and orchestration. Nonetheless, it’s unmistakably him.
Working with producer Sam Petts-Davies, the London Modern Orchestra, and conductor Hugh Brunt, Yorke constructed Confidenza as an absorbing front-to-back album—an evaluation you couldn’t fairly dole out to the overlong Suspiria, which, exterior of some transcendent vocal tracks, feels inextricably linked to Luca Guadagnino’s surreal horror visuals. Even with out seeing Confidenza the movie, directed by Daniele Luchetti, you’re good: 12 tracks, 36 minutes, a satisfying musical arc.
The vocal items, naturally, increase the instant goosebumps. On “4 Methods in Time,” Yorke flutters in octaves over trembling strings and the muted, punctuated thump of Smile drummer Tom Skinner. “Knife Edge” is pleasingly hissy and off-the-grid—an imagined lullaby warped by reminiscence, with Yorke cooing in tandem with chiming keys that conjure a music field in a dusty, boarded-up attic. However even the segues add to the vibe: “Letting Down Gently” is like ECM by way of Spirit of Eden, breathy saxophones conversing over probing double-bass. It’s over in a minute, nearly a tease—however identical to Yorke, it’s suited to stretch out endlessly. – GRADE: A-
Extra from Spin:
- Thom Yorke’s Non-Radiohead Albums, Ranked
- The Smile Entertain Grade School Kids In ‘Friend Of A Friend’ Video
- The Smile Debut Paul Thomas Anderson Video, Tease More New Music
You may try Confidenza OST on Bandcamp and elsewhere.
To see our operating checklist of the highest 100 biggest rock stars of all time, click here.
