Thom Yorke Outshines Other Members in New Collab Album

The latest installment of Thom Yorke’s ingenuity comes to us not as a new Radiohead album, or even as a new solo album, but as the first album of the supergroup Atoms for Peace. While the band is made up of 5 talented members, among them the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s own Flea and Radiohead producer/musician Nigel Godrich, it is Yorke’s trademark vocals that we instantly connect with in such an experimental album as Amok.

            Amok isn’t Yorke’s first album to deviate from Radiohead, seeing as he came out with an electronic debut solo album, The Eraser, in 2006. That album was Yorke’s initial step away from the more melodic music of Radiohead.  A few years later he garnered the help of a few superstar friends to perform The Eraser live, and it was obvious that the chemistry among the diverse musicians flowed naturally. In 2009, Yorke’s live band was composed of his own vocals, the Chili Peppers' Flea on bass, Nigel Godrich on keyboards and synthesizers, Joey Waronker of Beck and R.E.M. on drums, and Mauro Refosco on percussion, performing together as a group for the first time on October 2 at the Echoplex in Los Angeles. The band briefly toured the U.S. in the Spring of 2010 with Flying Lotus, and then performed at the Coachella Festival, all the while being advertised only as ‘??????’ on posters and marquees. Thom Yorke finally announced in 2010 that the band name would be Atoms for Peace, after both Eisenhower’s 1953 speech and the synthy sixth track off of The Eraser. Atoms for Peace then came out with the single "Default" and a music video for the song "Ingenue" mid-2012.

            Now, with the help of equally recognized musicians, Thom Yorke projects the madness of his unpredictable mind within Amok. Thom Yorke began to experiment with electronic sounds and Afrobeat-influenced percussion in 2006 with The Eraser, going in a completely different direction from the euphonious music Radiohead had made for Hail to the Thief (2004) and even went on to make for In Rainbows (2007). However, Radiohead’s last album King of Limbs, released in February 2011, was infused with the infectious rhythms of Afrobeat, as was Amok, inevitably. The inclusion of erratic electronic beats, bluesy bass, and repetitive muted guitar riffs links Amok, King of Limbs, and The Eraser together, making it  obvious that Thom Yorke had a hand in the production of all 3 albums.

            Amok begins with “Before Your Eyes,” which immediately grants us the familiarity of Thom Yorke’s usual high octave vocals. The song contains a kind of Latin groove created by Flea’s bass guitar in combination with the rest of the multiple instruments all going on at once, nicely complementing Yorke’s falsettos. The synthy breakdown in “Default” is very reminiscent of the type of music Radiohead has been making in the past decade, while “Dropped” provides us with a sort of cacophony of diverse sounds and instruments that is still enjoyable. The seventh track on the album, “Judge, Jury and Executioner,” is composed of vocals that show off Yorke’s impressive range, accompanied with ghoulish moaning in the background that make for a peaceful effect.

            Throughout “Stuck Together Pieces” Flea’s bassline finally gets a chance to shine, jazzily jamming over a variety of unrecognizable sounds as percussion. The upbeat bassline and rhythms demonstrate perfectly how the style of Flea’s Red Hot Chili Pepper background merges with the smooth vocals of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke in a way that no one could have ever expected would work so nicely. The song “Amok” also mixes 8-bit melodies, rhythmic tapping, and abrupt piano chords that make dissonance enjoyable.

            Although the contributions of the other members of the band do not go unnoticed, Thom Yorke’s vocals take Amok to the next level, expressing lovesickness and regret within the lyrics. The way that Amok seems to continue the pattern of both King of Limbs and The Eraser makes it seem like Atoms for Peace is a band mainly directed by Thom Yorke and his unusual contributions. However, we do get to enjoy the musical abilities of Flea and can appreciate the stylistic choices of Nigel Godrich, Joey Waronker, and Mauro Refosco. Still, it is difficult not to ask ourselves if Amok is Atoms for Peace’s debut album or rather Thom Yorke’s second solo album.