CD Review of The Eraser by Thom Yorke

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The Eraser
starstarstarno starno star Label: XL
Released: 2006
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In the nineties, Radiohead was on the verge of becoming the biggest band in the world. Their 1995 album The Bends was a critical smash hit, and their follow-up, 1997’s sci-fi concept album OK Computer, was instantly hailed as a timeless masterpiece. Radiohead’s grandiose sound, which reminded many of early U2 with a dash of Pink Floyd (that’s one hell of a combination), was hailed by many as ‘the next big thing.’

Of course, Radiohead hasn’t sounded anything remotely like that ever since. Call it daring and brave or call it career suicide, but ever since 2000, with the release of their experimental electronic-tinged Kid A, Radiohead has not been the same band they were in 1997. Regardless of how you felt about Kid A and its follow-up Amnesiac, at least part of you probably wanted Radiohead to at least hint at their earlier work. Early buzz on their last album, Hail to the Thief was indicating this, and while there are some actual guitars and drums present there, much of the album has more in common with Aphex Twin than anything of off The Bends.

So if you were hoping for a return to the old days with Radiohead singer Thom Yorke’s solo debut The Eraser, you’re going to have to keep on waiting. If The Eraser is any indication, the slight return to rock on Hail to the Thief was not Thom Yorke’s doing, but rather the doing of everyone else in Radiohead. This is the most experimental and out-there that Yorke has ever been. The nine tracks on The Eraser are composed almost entirely of glitch beats, simple electronic pops and snaps, dominating over drums or piano on nearly all the tracks. And good luck finding a guitar in there.

It’s relatively good as experimental/indie-electronic music goes, and far more radio-friendly than anything by the artists that most likely inspired it (Boards of Canada, Aphex Twin). The title track leading off the album focuses more on Thom’s amazing voice and a simple piano loop instead of the blips and beeps that serve as the center to the rest of the songs on the album. It’s not much, but its sparseness works for it instead of against it. “Black Swan,” one of the only songs on The Eraser that doesn’t seem to consist almost entirely of computer-made loops, is the kind of beautiful trip into melancholy we’ve come to expect from Thom Yorke over the years. The recurring line of “This is fucked up / Fucked up” accompanies one of the only genuine guitar riffs on the album, and its vague political lyrics combined with its unearthly electronic tone resemble something the Bob Dylan of the 1960s might record if he’s cloned back to life in the 2060s.

This is a very sparse album. Nearly all of the songs are nothing more than Thom singing over bare-bones loops and drum beats. It is intriguing, but many of the songs end up sounding the same simply because there is so little to them. About halfway through the album, it begins to all blend together – the quietness of it all slowly seeps into the background noise of your life, and the next thing you know, it’s over. While many albums require multiple listens to fully appreciate, The Eraser requires multiple listens just to make sure you actually listen to it.

Thom Yorke is a brilliant artist, and he has one of the best voices in music. While this album may appeal to die-hard Radiohead fans and to those looking for something new, most likely become bored wit it very quickly. Too poppy for the experimental people, too experimental for the pop people, it’s destined to be liked by many, but loved by very few.

~James B. Eldred