As artists, Radiohead's reputation precedes them. Their concerts are often like pilgrimages for the 19-year-old band's zealous fans, filling venues for years, despite the changing demographics and expectations of their followers. Since the infamous OK Computer, an album universally praised and often listed as one of the greatest musical achievements of the century, the British quintet has managed to remain enduringly popular yet heroic in their wholly successful attempts at innovation — to be static is to not be Radiohead.
In Rainbows, their newest creation, does not seek the timeless Brit-pop charms of its ancestor, or the genre-discarding forays of sister albums Kid-A and Amnesiac. In Rainbows instead embraces the only thing its predecessors haven't had — the exponential aging of its creators. This artistic maturity has produced songs hauntingly beautiful in their cohesive melancholy, yet surprisingly accessible to listeners both dedicated and new.
In Rainbows begins with the sway-inducing "15 Step," rousing the listener with a weirdly danceable synthesis of all the themes the album proceeds to develop. A barrage of Timbaland-tinged syncopated drumbeats open the track, giving way to the strained chant of Thom Yorke. Never quite settling with the lead-heavy groove, lead guitarist Johnny Greenwood's understated guitar lines propel the staggering melody through abrupt shifts in tempo and sudden interjections of the sound of children yelling. This delightfully abrasive sonic experiment veils the downtrodden lyric "How come I end up where I started/ How come I end up where I belong/ Won’t take my eyes off the ball again/ You reel me out then you cut the string." Even at their most upbeat, melancholy is a lurking yet integral force in Radiohead's music.
Distilling this dystopian ideology into a breathtaking exposé of unfulfilled dreams, "Nude" sets itself apart from the rest of the album, hypnotizing at first listen and burrowing into the listener's emotional reality every time after. This down-tempo refinement of everything In Rainbows offers thematically was ironically written during the days of OK Computer, but has had at least four different titles since then and likely just as many musical incarnations.
Its most recent studio manifestation substitutes a prominent baseline and twinkling "Creep" guitar for Yorke's original exposed piano or prominent organ. When Yorke begins singing softly, the track is reminiscent of "Motion Picture Soundtrack," and this elegant tranquility is the perfect medium to suspend despairing lyrics. Yorke barely whispers, "Don’t get any big ideas/ They’re not gonna happen," and later, "Now that you’ve found it, it’s gone/ Now that you feel it, you don’t." Perhaps Radiohead still doubts their genius, despite the many timeless and inspiring "big ideas" of their career.
The maturing nature of Radiohead's once youthful members is evident on the second half of the album as much as the highly emotional constituents of the first. But daring to invoke the trite fine wine metaphor would be insultingly inapplicable to such uncompromising artists.
Greenwood's recent classical-sensibility crushing Popcorn Superhet Receiver and Yorke's solid solo endeavor The Eraser challenge what it means to be both a solo rock musician as well as Radiohead. In Rainbows follows these similarly, containing numerous songs after "Nude" that flow together seamlessly to create a cohesive whole and don't feel aged or unwelcome. These tracks are distinctly Radiohead compositions, but express their changing melodic sensibilities. "Reckoner" anchors this conclusion, building jangling cymbal crashes to a symphonic crescendo that supports the apex of Yorke's fresh-feeling falsetto. This wail is heavy with the pains of experience that keeps the song from floating away.
In Rainbows closes with "Videotape," a farewell to the audience at the end of the album, as well as homage to the band's loss of youth and expectation of an unpredictable future. This is a fear common to everyone and perhaps the most universal instrument, the piano, punctuates a few closing words. "No matter what happens now/ You shouldn’t be afraid/ Because I know today has been the most perfect day I’ve ever seen."
In Rainbows isn't perfect — Radiohead has been there — but it certainly will touch everyone who listens to it, and make us wait longingly for these music legends to speak to us again.