Radiohead - Lotus Flower

The new Radiohead album. I’ve been in love with it since Friday night. I pre-ordered my copy after a smart bird told me about it and was waiting for the digital copy on Saturday. I found out about the day before trick later on in the day on Friday so I got home in the evening and next thing you know, I had a fever and was pretty sick. Around midnight I decided to get my copy and listen to it right then and there from front to back as I played FIFA. It was a pretty amazing experience actually. Here I was with a sordid fever, a bad cough and a throat that was killing me and I was getting rewarded with Radiohead’s gorgeous new album. The album was a shock to my ears and it still is, every single sound off it continues to just pour this amazing energy, soul and heart, it’s absolutely beautiful.

I find it crazy when reading reviews that say it’s not that good, or that it’s gonna be their most divisive, that it’s too short, that it’s not In Rainbows. I mean, come on.

So through the weekend, I tried to get better by taking vitamins and drinking lots of liquids. It didn’t work because I found out Monday afternoon that I had a throat infection and well, I was pretty sick apparently. But through that time, The King of Limbs tried to nurse me back to health the best way it could. I’m finally almost better although yes, I still have a small sick vibe ha, and now, I cannot listen to this album without finding something else I love in it. I’ve probably already outplayed the heck out of it but it’s a new album, it takes a lot of listens to finally ‘get’ and yes, it’s a Radiohead album – too – so it’s gonna be awesome, always.

“Lotus Flower” was one of the first ones that I really connected to when it came to the lyrics. But there’s so much going on here. The patterns the percussion plays envelope this circular path where there’s hand-claps, scattered snare parts and a relentless kick-drum that bangs away forcefully and that’s percussion only. All the other instruments shift in and out focus while Thom Yorke’s voice is in the spotlight again. But the words, right, he’s singing about maybe the fact that it feels beautiful when you can feel that empty space in your heart for the one you used to love and tonight, we get to set them free? There’s that affectionate side where you’ll inch up to someone and next thing you know you’re the little toy in their pocket and basically, they’ll do whatever they want with you. And that’s because all you do is balloon their head even more by showering them with love. Radiohead’s songs can also draw various inspirations, Buddhism is felt here, especially with the lotus and the fact that it’s all about accepting your faults, your strengths and everything as whole. And the way he sings, “Because all I want is the moon upon a stick” and how his voice climbs the walls is amazing. I was even more enthused when I found out that they did a video for the song where you get to see Yorke dance the entire time and it is below. They’re amazing for not selling out to vevo, for making such an amazing video on such a basic idea and well, after listening to the songs about 20 times and then seeing a video where Yorke moves to the aforementioned different beats and patterns is amazing too. It’s an amazing song, but I’ve probably already mentioned that and so are the other 7 songs on the album and maybe I can talk about them later. There’s a more ‘professional’ review of the album by me in other publications but here, it’s all from my heart. And why not, ending it all, Yorke offers some advice to this harsh world: “Listen to your heart.” Sounds good to me. – Bryan