Radiohead - Burn the Witch

If ever you needed proof Radiohead can do whatever the fuck they want and get away with it, the last few days give sufficient evidence. A simple postcard, the removal of all social posts and this morning, a short video of a bird chirping. Judging by the reaction, Thom Yorke had declared an apocalypse. But this is their situation: every move is analysed to an extreme, every sleight of hand a sign of genius.

But they aren’t invincible. Previous album, 2011’s ‘The King of Limbs’, was far from their best. Thom Yorke’s subsequent solo album ‘Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes’ was a middling series of bleep-bloop experiments. And even the way these records were released - a surprise drop and a BitTorrent bundle - didn’t scream excitement. To loyal fans, they could record an hour’s worth of silence and be deemed the Second Coming. But Radiohead like to stay one step ahead, and they were in danger of - whisper it - settling down.

‘Burn the Witch’ is just one song off their ninth record, and Radiohead can’t answer their critics in one go. But it does possess a sense of adventure and a warmth that was lacking in their last record. Whereas before they’d splinter a beat, give a nod to jazz and be done with it, this single merges opposites. Jonny Greenwood’s had a field day with the orchestral arrangements, and they run in parallel to croaking synth lines and simple, electronic drum patterns. What’s more, it gets to the point. Thom Yorke goes straight for the jugular with gutsy melodies. There’s no faffing about, no point dithering. That was always the hidden skill of records like ‘In Rainbows’ or even the more minimal ‘Kid A’. They knew where to take a song, without getting caught up in messy detail.

The song’s existed for over a decade, in fragmented form. It was in the running for inclusion on ‘In Rainbows’, but it never made the cut. Fans have only heard snippets of a brooding piano line similar to ‘Pyramid Song’. But it’s arrived in a completely different, final form. ‘Burn the Witch’ mixes the sinister with the gutsy, like the very best Radiohead songs. Comfort zone? What comfort zone?