By Josh Stephens
Thom Yorke has a unique way of delivering a vocal that manages to feel unexpected and yet instantly comfortable. The King of Limbs’ opener, “Bloom,” for example, somehow feels soothing despite being built on prickly drum machine beats and dissonant drops of piano.
An uneasy tension rises in the spastic “Morning Mr Magpie” that promises to break the song loose, but it never quite delivers as the song leans too heavily on the skittery percussion.
The jangly “Little By Little” is gritty and uninspired. It feels like a demo. “Feral” unfortunately continues in that vein. With some random chopped vocal effects arranged on top of a drum loop, the song comes off as a dry and unfinished electronic jam.
The essential Live from the Basement DVD demonstrates what the band is truly capable of when it comes to seamlessly incorporating electronic elements into their songs. They are underachieving here.
You wish a song of “Lotus Flower’s clarity and focus came much sooner on the album. Yorke’s falsetto soars as he pleads “Listen to your heart!”
Watch video of “Lotus Flower.”
“Codex” is an unexpected beauty. Very In Rainbows territory here. On an album dominated by static and crunch, the icy ambience created by the piano, brass and strings is more than a little refreshing.
“Give Up the Ghost” is simply Yorke and a guitar. Effectively simple but maybe a little thin.
“Separator” is a pleasant reminder that there are other members in the band. Finally drummer Phil Selway’s precision and guitarist Jonny Greenwood’s chime-y atmospherics get their moment. Too little too late though.
The fact that it took eight songs to really get a band effort is the Achilles heel of this album. (And since when does eight songs qualify as an album?!) The King of Limbs comes dangerously close to feeling like a Thom Yorke solo album. These songs feel like two-dimensional sketches in need of more color.
Morristown resident Josh Stephens is a music fanatic. Check out his reviews on MorristownGreen.com.
