«In Rainbows» Radiohead (English version)

In Rainbows
Artist: Radiohead
Year: 2007
XL Recordings
Score: 9.9

In Rainbows was released during a crucial moment in the music industry of 2007. Taking about 2 years for its completion, it was distributed digitally under the «pay what you want» model and physical release began the next year through XL Recordings. This would be Radiohead’s first studio record as independent artist after a long and wearing relationship with EMI, but above all, a new beginning resulting in a deep album free of all corporate expectations.

«15 Step» opens with a potent electronic loop accompanied by Thom Yorke’s voice. An interesting contrast is created by mixing the high crisp drum loop against the perfectly syncronized loops of Jonny Greenwood’s guitar, who chooses a warm and cozy tone to create a fuller sound. Towards the second half of the track, Collin Greenwood’s baseline brings up the heat and fierceness.

It’s worth noticing that the main theme of the song can be traced even to the way it’s been composed. Yorke describes the heavy feeling of realizing that life itself can be quite repetitive and the panic one can feel when facing this. We’re not used to think about our existence coming to an end, but Thom often uses several types of methaphors like the one line that says «fifteen steps, then a sheer drop» making a reference to literaly the amount of steps it takes to go on a gallow, forcing us to remember the fragility of life.

Quite an intense and solid way to start an album, full of smart wordplay and well thought intimacy between music and lyrics.

In «Bodysnatchers» Thom Yorke sings almost in a mockingly fashion a song as frenetic as the meaning behind its lyrics, where theme keeps being the dreadful side of life.

Depresive, irritable and misunderstood; «Bodysnatchers» its almost a complain without direction. You could direct such complain towards someone or everything that forces you to put on a mask and stop being honest to yourself.

«Nude» its fan favorite live song since the OK Computer era. It went through several provisional titles until being recorded as «Nude» in this record almost 10 years later.

Here, Thom Yorke evolves the feeling of outrageous despair into an emptiness almost tangible to the listener when he sings «You Paint yourself white / and fill up with noise / but there’ll be something missing». Radiohead has always been associated with quite a cinematic approach in their songwriting (probably influenced by the fondness for The Smiths) and this song makes no exception.

If during the past songs the glass has been seen «half empty» because of all the angst and the internal questioning without response, «Weird fishes/Arpeggi» says «bottoms up!» to that glass. This song accepts that somethimes in life we need to hit rock bottom in order to stop the self-pity.

Something worth noticing is how this record was built arround the concept of repetition with all this tight drum loops against the chronometric rhythm of the arpeggios that seems to never end. Now, the band being known for their abstract lyrics with a lot of room for self interpretation, seems to surrender completely to the exhaustion that comes with overthinking.

«All I need» ends up admiting what wasn’t that clear in «Weird fishes/Arpeggi», wich was the pain and sadness of rejection.

This song points out the turning point in this story, in which after facing its ghosts, comes the understanding that anger is the easy choice, but sadness lingers like a calm sea; deep and immense and with an eerie stillness.

As a logic continuation from the previous epiphany, Radiohead opts now for a more acoustic format in «Faust Arp» apart from rather difficult metrics to follow, (at least during the first seconds)

The song talks about the desperate realization that love can end, and through Yorke’s character we found out that the idol broke, that in his emptiness comes recognition that the person he was in love with, is in fact shallow and proves to be a perfect recipe for disaster.

«Reckoner» represents an important point in this record because here its where the title of In Rainbows is born. A song that literally says its dedicated to all human beings and that possess a strong feeling of trascendence in spite of all the spiraling down that has been captured in these songs so far.

It seems as if Yorke sings some kind of mantra during the famous bridge that says «Because we separate like ripples on a blank shore” as you can listen to the words «in raindows» being chanted in the backgroud.

Maybe the most direct song on the whole album, «House of cards» snaps off the dense existencial mood the record has been from the begining, and turns out to be a platonic love song. Here Yorke voice plays a guy who is in love with someone who already has an established life with a couple, nontheless he fantasizes with winning her affection and running away, leaving their old life behind.

Based on those old college nights filled with lights, friends, music and regretful decisions «Jigsaw fallinf into place» offers one of the catchiest and memorable beats of the album. You simply feel like repeating the song as soon as it ends, and Thom Yorke’s ability to capture the scene being sung is impeccable.

Lastly we have «Videotape», the critically acclaimed and highly favorite track of the band on this record. In its more simple version reduced to piano, Thom’s voice and an increasing drum beat according to the various moods that the piece goes through, indicating the end of all the angst, the worries, the good and the bad, of life and this, Radiohead’s seventh studio album.