Radiohead surprised fans Friday by releasing their eighth studio album, The King of Limbs, a day earlier than originally announced.
Radiohead's eight studio album The King of Limbs
The English alternative rock band from Oxford had previously posted on its website Dead Air Space Valentine’s Day the much-anticipated eight-song collection would be available for download through another site, www.thekingoflimbs.com, Saturday Feb. 19. Radiohead then suddenly declared Friday Feb. 18 on Dead Air Space the album would be available to download immediately.
“It’s Friday… It’s almost the weekend…It’s a full moon….” reads the post. “You can download ‘The King of Limbs’ now if you so wish!”
“Thank you good people for waiting …” it continues. “Have a great weekend wherever you are….”
Radiohead also posted a video for The King of Limbs single “Lotus Flower” in the same entry.
The King of Limbs follows the band’s 2007 release In Rainbows and is produced by longtime collaborator Nigel Godrich. On a preliminary listen, The King of Limbs continues the band’s legacy as one of the most innovative groups in rock ‘n’ roll—its music cascades effortlessly, rising and falling like the twinkling flashes of a distant star through experimental galaxies of orbiting noise, Jazz, African rhythm, dance, rock; all at once Earthen yet very much extraterrestrial.
For a comprehensive review of The King of Limbs, as well as other musical musings and diatribes, check out Press editor-in-chief Michael Patrick Nelson’s take on music blog Steady Diet of Noise.
Here’s the track listing:
1. Bloom
2. Morning Mr. Magpie
3. Little By Little
4. Feral
5. Lotus Flower
6. Codex
7. Give Up The Ghost
8. Separator
Radiohead The King of Limbs band photo
NME reported Feb. 16 the album’s title “was inspired by an oak in Wiltshire’s Savernake Forest, thought to be around 1,000 years old. The forest lies around three miles away from Tottenham House, a listed country house where Radiohead recorded part of 2007’s In Rainbows.”
The King of Limbs will be released on CD and vinyl March 28, according to the piece, and released as a “newspaper album” package (what the band are calling it), May 9, to include the album on CD, vinyl and artwork sheets.
Radiohead consists of Thom Yorke on vocals, piano and guitars; Jonny Greenwood (guitars, keyboards, other instruments); Ed O’Brien (guitars, backing vocals); Colin Greenwood (bass, synthesizers); and Phil Selway on drums and percussion.
Other acclaimed works include: Pablo Honey (1993); The Bends (1995); OK Computer (1997); Kid A (2000); Amnesiac (2001); and Hail to the Thief (2003).
