Thom Yorke: The Eraser (180g) Vinyl LP

Remember the scene in the Radiohead documentary when Thom Yorke is fucking around with ProTools on his little private recording area of the tour bus? Well, now we know what he was working on. Supposedly a long time coming, Ol' Yorkey just let word slip about this project a few months ago, and now it's already here. It's historically true that most solo albums from rock front dudes are pieces of chit, but c'mon – Radiohead is still yet to make a bad album, and you think the man is gonna soil his rep with a tossed-off solo joint? Nein. This is exactly what you'd expect from Thom Yorke with no bandmates around and just longtime Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich manning the boards: guitars kept to a minimum, skittering electronics turned all the way up, as they've already been on the past 2 or 3 albums. "Analyse" or "And It Rained All Night" could easily have been left off Amnesiac or Hail To The Thief, so if you're a fan of said eras, you know what you're getting into. "Atoms For Peace" is totally stripped down, just a gentle Bjork-like beat left to accompany the vocals, while "Cymbal Rush" feels more epic, like it's gonna break into a trance beat at any moment. The title track is tight, too. 9 tracks total clocking in at just over 40 minutes. LP version comes in a handsome pic sleeve.

• 180g black vinyl pressing
• printed inner sleeve
• music label: XL Recordings 2017

reviewed by Chris Lemon-Red 07/206