Radiohead's lead singer Thom Yorke's solo album Anima allows you to experience once again what is called "depressing black magic".
Text: A sheep
Editor: Joy
"Dystopia."
Barrelwood used these four words to describe his 19-year solo album Anima.
Thom Yorke
"Soul"
2019
It's no surprise that he has this musical core—whether in the Radiomasters or when he became independent, Barrelwood's overall career focus is basically to portray the dystopian society in which we live.
Soul is undoubtedly a well-made and musically rich album.
Barrel wood waist actually knows in his heart that even if his entire album is based on previous songs, freestyle a few main songs out, there will be a dystopian feeling, but he still took great pains to "elaborate" this album, following the 2016 radio commander "A Moon Shaped Pool", depicting another terrifying reality nightmare of music.
Soul is 48 minutes long, with eerie and abstract electronic production elements throughout the album, and the entire album is heavily influenced by Flying Lotus. The creation and production of the album is closely related to the legendary producer Nigor.
Barrelwood also featured three songs from Soul in a 15-minute music short film of the same name directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (which was released on Netflix on June 27, 2019 at the same time as the album), and also starred in the short film.
In the second lead song of the album's first song, "Traffic", the first song of the album, the deformed voice of the barrel wooden waist is whispering in a strange way" and "there is no water here".
The increasingly sharp tone changes and the drum loop that has been very ear-catching make this song full of magic, and people are full of anxiety when listening to the song, the kind of anxiety that makes people from physiology to psychology, from home and country events to personal worries. And this anxiety seems to be exactly what he usually feels.
I can’t breathe
I couldn't breathe
there’s no water
There is no water here
——《Traffic》
Although there was a movement of the radio commander to tour before, barrel wood waist did not make any moves in this aspect of the tour, but put a lot of effort into the song.
In the new song "Destruction", he muttered: "Fucking machine, why don't you open your mouth to talk to me?" Sooner or later I'm going to ruin you. In the song, he also asks a very personal question, that is, he presses his computer screen and asks, "Where is the love you promised me?" ”
Gddamn machinery, why won’t it speak to me?
Sooner or later I'm going to ruin you.
One day I am gonna take an axe to it.
Fucking machine, why don't you open your mouth and talk to me?
Where’s that love you promised me?
Where is the love you promised me?
——《The Axe》
Like Barrelwood's first two solo albums, Eraser and Tomorrow's Motorcycle Box, each song in Souls seems to tell its own story independently, but is interconnected.
One highlight of the album was in the song "I'm a Very Rude Man," where the Gregory chant chorus was a back-and-forth bass.
Meanwhile, he seems to sneer and squeeze out the lyrics: "You have to destroy first in order to create / I have to be rude in front of you / I'm going to smash the record player / Watch your party finish" In a guitar loop, the sound of barrel wood waist gradually disappears. The party was indeed over, and it was the kind that was quiet.
I have to destroy to create
In order to create, it must first be destroyed
I have to be rude to your face
I'm going to be rude in front of you
I’m breaking up the turntables
I'm going to smash the record player
Now I’m gonna watch your party die
Watch your party finish playing
——《I Am A Very Rude Person》
Radiostar fans must be very familiar with Dawn Chorus, a single that should have been recorded at the time of In Rainbows but was not recorded.
The song is complex and simple, with a low keyboard tone, paired with a low groan that seems to wake up from the barrel waist, making the whole song lonely, desperate and confused: "I think I missed something, but I'm not sure what it is." ”
The song is in stark contrast to the album's closing song, "Runwayaway", which features large Byrds-style guitar accents while the album is largely unheard of on guitar.
I think I miss something, but I’m not sure what.
I feel like I'm missing something, but I'm not sure what it is.
——《Dawn Chorus》
At the same time, Barrel Wood Waist also repeated over and over again: "At this time you will know who your true friend is." He seemed to be implying: If only you really had such a friend (mocking face).
"Runwayaway" can be said to be the climax of the entire album, and it also has Tom's consistent style.
From "(Faded) Street Spirit" to "VideoTape" to "A Little Nose Grows", his voice has always sounded desperate, helpless, crazy, but incredibly angry.
In this album full of depression and anxiety, "Soul", the ending song seems to have a little hope.
This is when you know who your real friends are.
It's then that you know who your true friend is.
——《Runwayaway》
Ref：
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/thom-yorke-anima-853024
Rock 'n' Roll Paradise recommended search
Keyword list: Thom Yorke Radiomaster Band