Features Predicting Radiohead: What Might ‘The King Of Limbs’ Sound Like?

Predicting any of Radiohead’s actions is a near-impossible task.

Today, they unveiled their eighth studio full-length, titled ‘The King Of Limbs’ and - you guessed it - out this time next week. ‘No Surprises’ isn’t an ethos they adhere to. So we have a release date, a title, a front cover. But one thing still kept under wraps is the tracklist. Here, DIY will attempt to oust Thom Yorke and co. by indulging in a few songs exposed over the past couple of years through live concerts that might, just might, make it onto Saturday’s release.

Lotus Flower

Stripped down when performed at a recent Haiti-benefit show, you’d expect ‘Lotus Flower’ to have a more flourishing sound were it to appear on ‘The King of Limbs’. Sounding more akin to the smooth, sultry tones of ‘House Of Cards’ than anything else in the band’s catalogue, Yorke’s voice is serene and polished, giving the track a late-night feel.

Skirting On The Surface

Led by a set of cinematic piano chords, ‘Skirting On The Surface’ is another potential album track that thus far has only been performed by Yorke on his own. Nevertheless, very much like ‘Lotus Flower’, you imagine the soft piano to be met with a breathtaking backdrop of Jonny Greenwood-guitar on any recorded version. Lyrics ‘We have only to click our fingers and we disappear/ We’re just skirting on the surface’ give good indication that Yorke’s writing ability is keeping with a form of old.

Open The Floodgates

‘Don’t bore us, get to the chorus’ goes Yorke after having a timely bitch at nattering members of the audience during this show at LA’s The Echoplex. It’s yet another piano-led effort that would do justice in its current state. Knowing Radiohead’s habit of making stunning, dense recordings however, you’d expect the odd string section or delay-pedal effect here and there.

Judge, Jury and Executioner

Seen here performing with Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ Flea, this is perhaps the most fully-formed of all the songs we could track down. A sprawling, pitch-altering effort that shows a kind of grit unfounded in our previous three songs, ‘Judge, Jury and Executioner’ is a progressive, tightly-packed little gem that you assume will its way onto ‘The King of Limbs’.

Lift

Every post-‘Ok Computer’ Radiohead release gives loyal fans hope that ‘Lift’ will somehow show its face as a proper-album-track for the first time. An unreleased song from the band’s illustrious breakthrough era, it’d be a standout on either of their last two records. Crammed-full with emotion, you’d have grounds for accusing Coldplay of stealing its chord sequence for ‘Yellow’. All the same, it leaves you with your fingers crossed that one day, it might see the light of day on one of the band’s albums, just like ‘Nude’ managed to. Perhaps now’s the time…