Radiohead Finish Songs for Next Album
Radiohead have “finished a group of songs” and now they’re deciding how to release them, says bassist Colin Greenwood in an essay for Index for Censorship. (Pitchfork first linked to the story.) The band distributed their last album, In Rainbows, online, allowing fans to choose how much to pay. In the article, Greenwood also maps out how the “digital landscape has changed again” with the emergence of social networks and music streaming sites.
Back in June, guitarist Ed O’Brien said that Radiohead were just “a matter of weeks” away from completing their new LP, which he also called “the best album we’ve ever made.” O’Brien said the album could arrive by the end of 2010. Drummer Phil Selway, currently promoting his solo album Familial, told The AV Club earlier this month that Radiohead still hasn’t completed recording, but they were trying to figure out a new release strategy for when they do. However Radiohead decides to unveil their new album, it’s unlikely they’ll do it the conventional way: Thom Yorke called the major labels a sinking ship earlier this year.
“We have yet to decide how to release our next record, but I hope these partial impressions will help give some idea of the conversations we’ve been having,” Greenwood writes in his piece. “Traditional marketplaces and media are feeling stale — supermarkets account for around 70 per cent of CDs sold in the UK, the charts are dominated by TV talent-show acts — and we are trying to find ways to put out our music that feel as good as the music itself. The ability to have a say in its release, through the new technologies, is the most empowering thing of all.”