The King of Limbs is a raft afloat in a sea of homogenous vessels, inflated with hot air, reserved tunes, and a ballooned egoism — devoid of any real mass and asking to be popped.
Radiohead has a reputation for breaking down bigger barriers and standing out beyond the rest, a complex now embraced by burgeoning acts like Animal Collective and Sleigh Bells.
This group of forty-year-olds is not doing anything a gang of tripped out twenty-somethings could not flesh out in a dark basement.
The latest from Radiohead touches on multiple genres, a product of the band trying to re-create the instances in which it has been successful in the past. But this time, it all sounds like it’s been done before.
The King of Limbs begins its ascension with emphatic choruses and captivating drums until its climax, “Lotus Flower,” a song delineated by a protruding baseline and comely vocals.
“Give Up the Ghost” is an acoustic etude that resembles a Nyquil-drowned “High and Dry,” distorting instead of evoking any real emotion.
The sample of chirping birds at the end of “Codex” certifies that the band is experimenting, but the ingredients don’t mix well.
Lead singer Thom Yorke cries, “Wake up” during the last minute of the final track “Separator,” as if he is recognizing and expressing the needs of the listener after they’ve muddled through the vapid last 15 minutes of the album.
The King of Limbs doesn’t have the substance or cohesiveness of 2007’s In Rainbows, an electronic experiment gone very right.
