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Let it not be said that the members of Radiohead don’t know how to employ the element of surprise. Just a few short days after loosing uncharacteristic new track “Harry Patch (In Memory Of)”, the band made headlines again when frontman Thom Yorke told the Believer that, “None of us want to go into that creative hoo-ha of a long-play record again.” This quote was, of course, quickly spun out of context, with blog commenters the world over fearfully predicting that there would be no new material from Radiohead for the foreseeable future. In fact, Yorke was hinting that the opposite was true: by leveraging their direct-to-fan distribution platform, the band hoped to release music in fits and spurts, in the form of EPs and singles. If anything, Yorke seemed to suggest that we would be seeing new music from the band very soon indeed.
It’s curious, then, that just a few days later, we should happen upon this: “These Are My Twisted Words,” an allegedly “leaked” MP3 that sounds an awful lot like a new Radiohead song. The track surfaced on the At Ease fan messageboard yesterday, accompanied by little more than a title. On peer-to-peer networks, however, the lone MP3 was flanked by an “nfo” file, containing a cryptic, Yorke-esque rant hinting at an August 17th release date.
And what of the song itself? It’s a guitar-heavy number, awash with seasick, cascading arpeggios yet firmly-rooted by a syncopated drum line and a deep bass groove. The vocals don’t kick in until just past the 2:30 mark but when they do, the sound of Yorke’s cheerless moan is nigh unmistakable. For all its mystery, the track would feel right at home among the back-to-basics numbers of Hail to the Thief.
So is this a new Radiohead song or not? While all signs seem to point toward ‘yes’, as of yet, there’s no confirmation from the band or their management. In the meantime, why not decide for yourself?
