All For The Best - New Thom Yorke Songs Reviews

Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses, The Hollow Earth,and Hearing Damage

Oct 18, 2009 James W. Coates

Lead singer for British Alternative/Electronica experimental band Radiohead, Thom Yorke releases four new solo singles, the first since his 2006 album The Eraser.

Following the release of Thom’s solo album and the last Radiohead output, 2007’s In Rainbows, the band had been quite on releasing new material until unveiling two songs at the close of summer 2009.

“Harry Patch (In Memory Of)”, in honour of the last surviving British veteran of World War I, and “These Are My Twisted Words”, both appeared unannounced on Radiohead’s website along with a message promising new solo work from Thom Yorke.

In keeping promises, Yorke released four new solo tracks in October 2009, “All For The Best”, “FeelingPulledApartByHorses”, “TheHollowEarth” and “Hearing Damage”, that accompany the newly released Radiohead singles.

All For The Best

The first of those new songs, “All For The Best” is featured on Ciao My Shining Star a tribute album to the works of Mark Mulcahy (Polaris, Miracle Legion) in honour of his departed wife.

“All For The Best”, perhaps the finest of the new crop, contains a rippled back beat, that moves faster than the slower lyrics. Like all Thom Yorke songs it make for challenging first listens, but then it hits hard.

Underneath the beauty and perfected anarchy, Thom lends his voice to one of the saddest image-driven songs he has ever recorded. In his overly emotive style, Thom Yorke sings, among other things, of a man mowing a lawn and makes it sound gut-wrenching. The brilliance of this song cannot be underrated. Possibly the most linear track Yorke has recorded in a long time, with crisp clear vocals and a fine use of instruments to punctuate, not overbear, the lyrics.

Like most of this Englishmen’s output, there’s a lot of background noise such as drum sticks beating, eerie whining and distorted guitar, but at its heart, this is a love song to a departed spouse. Pure brilliance, and one of the best tracks Yorke, or Radiohead, have produced in a long time – and that’s saying a lot for a band that constantly challenges itself and listeners.

FeelingPulledApartByHorses and TheHollowEarth

In late September, Yorke released “FeelingPulledApartByHorses” on 7” vinyl backed by “TheHollowEarth”. Both songs became available digitally in October.

Like his latest work with Radiohead, these songs aren’t instantly accessible. The Radiohead camp has spent the last decade crafting challenging and unpredictable rock/electronica experiments that blur the lines between pop and art.

While both songs are classic Yorke, b-side “TheHollow Earth” upstages, “FeelingPulledApartByHorses” for sheer listening pleasure. While neither song will go down in history as the artist’s best work, the latter’s six plus minutes are filled with mostly extended noise and a buckling bass making it a distracting listen. It’s a dark affair that sounds more deconstructed than constructed.

Meanwhile, “TheHollowEarth” could have easily placed on The Eraser, it comes from the same era but was cut from the album. Filled with electronic blips and filler, it’s an enjoyable record but not one of Yorke’s best ventures, especially compared to “All For The Best”.

Hearing Damage

Featured on the New Moon Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Thom Yorke’s original composition “Hearing Damage”, captures a haunting yet urgent sound that contains elements both retro and futuristic.

As lo-fi and straightforward a song as Thom has recorded in a long time, “Hearing Damage” does away with the distorted vocals and electronica experiments and goes straight for the jugular on this vampire song seasoned with longing and fear.

“Hearing Damage” may not be the lead single off the New Moon soundtrack, and may not be the track of choice for the scores of teenage girls that make up the series’ core audience, but as far as Thom York’s recent singles goes, this one has the most bite. A truly brilliant piece of music.

Until a new Radiohead or Thom Yorke album surfaces, these four songs adequately satisfy. And with the magic of playlists, placed together alongside the two new Radiohead singles, these songs make a disjointed six-song EP. Radiohead and Thom Yorke may be releasing an album after all – one track at a time.

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