Have you ever listened to Radiohead? You’re probably a fan without even noticing. I recall what seemed to allude to what would be my fandom when I used to follow this YouTube star (who has long left what could be considered the graveyard for what used to be a wonderful world of makeup tutorials and weird, funny videos) who had a Radiohead reference in his very username (actually, it was Radiohead-something) and wondering “What is a Radiohead? He must really be into music!”
With the help of my dope dude friends who had good music taste, I was able to crawl my way out of the dark abyss in to which my young musical ignorance sentenced me.
Still today, people are having their “Ah-ha” moments with Radiohead. Regardless of when that moment happens, somehow, 47 years after their 1985 creation, Radiohead’s haunting, yet melodic music still manages to crawl into its listeners’ darkest places to disturb them for the three minutes of uninterrupted attention it demands. Even for avid listeners, the process of switching on a Radiohead song is one that is calculated, emotional, and moving. The disturbing part is, the process somehow never gets easier.
"Burn the Witch," their latest single took everyone by surprise after its sudden release after Radiohead deleted the majority of the information posted over the course of days, months, and years on their fan pages among various social media platforms, such as Facebook. This was followed by their changing their default photos to blank icons. As any other typical Radiohead fan would know better than to question the band’s moves, I pushed off the dramatic changes as “quintessential Radiohead trying to mess with my head, probably saying something deep about capitalism without having said anything at all.” Little did I know that in the hours following, I would be graced with Thom Yorke’s voice making yet another strange request to “abandon all reason”, the same way he told me “yee have not been paying attention”, and to not “get any big ideas”. I will be honest — when Yorke told me to abandon all reason, I laughed because it seems that he beat me to it first. Delete your past then tell me to abandon all reason?! What has taken over you!?
In all fairness, the track is a hit. Such a hit that I did not even get to experience how emo the music video is until I watched it three days later — I didn’t even need visual aid to know the release would be stellar. That’s the power of Radiohead.
After nerding out, looking for an answer, a reason for this Beyonce-style “I really don’t care” release, I decided to stop asking such questions and work with what I had:
Radiohead just released their first single since their beautifully orchestrated single for "Spectre" last year was overlooked in favor for Sam Smith’s theme song for the final Daniel Craig Bond movie, orchestrated by one of its members, Johnny Greenwood — the same member who also orchestrated the musical genius which is "Burn the Witch."
What draws in the listener initially is Greenwood’s call for the use of col legno strings at the very beginning. The effect given by this is one that gives the strings a choppier, less fluid (but equally beautiful) sound, already making the listener feel ever-so uneasy. As the song progresses, the col legno takes more of a backseat, as traditional, yet horrid, disturbing layering of violins take the spotlight as the music video takes its turn for the worse, as some deem this new song to be nothing less than horror movie music with the absence of Yorke’s voice. The lyrics, although seemingly simple, or better put, “poetically vague” are the song’s saving grace, giving the listener a window through which to peer from the top of the dark crevasse into which Radiohead plunges him or her.
Honestly, the song is creepy, beautiful, and terrible at the same time. Its musically complex, chilling, and unique sound is one that makes it unforgettable. Whether that is for the better or for the worse is up to you.
