Review Summary: start whispering
Across their discography, Radiohead has married cathartic, crescendoing song structures with intricate arrangements that teeter between beauty and skittering anxiety. The King of Limbs made this duality clearer than ever; for the most part, the first half of the record delved into frenetic rhythms while the second showcased warm melodies and textures.
With A Moon Shaped Pool, Radiohead manages to preserve both elements while cutting as much fat as possible. Propulsive bass grooves, stripped-down drum signatures, alternately delicate and soaring vocals, and masterful synthesizer and string arrangements are all present here. Sky-scraping alternative rock choruses and riffs, however, remain absent; in their place are restrained space-rock grooves and intricately crafted ballads that rank among the most rewarding work that Radiohead has ever done.
A Moon Shaped Pool is a quiet, patient record that hedges its bets on subtlety. Thankfully, it buffers its relatively sleepy moments with copious amounts of sonic detail. Nigel Godrich’s approach to production carries over from In Rainbows and The King of Limbs, hard-panning instruments in order to allow each to breathe; he uses minimal reverb on core instruments while nearly washing out the background in order to preserve rich textures while establishing opulent atmospheres. From the raspy, wind-tunnel synth that whirs on space-bossa nova “Desert Island Disk” to the twisting bell modulations during the first instrumental break of “Daydreaming”, stretches that could otherwise fall into the realm of wankery are imbued with life.
Thankfully, A Moon Shaped Pool doesn’t rely completely on detail in order to succeed as a record. From the labyrinthine major-chord release that concludes “Present Tense” to the bewitching falsetto climax of “Identikit,” Radiohead’s ninth LP contains consistently focused tracks with rock-solid, dynamic structures that lead to visceral heights. Even regarding the record’s more confounding elements (blatantly misleading opener “Burn the Witch”, the ‘is it intentional?’ alphabetic song order), A Moon Shaped Pool asserts itself as yet another excellent record in Radiohead’s discography. They’ve managed to lower their voice while still having something to say.
