Oxford heroes Radiohead have confirmed that they have completed an album’s worth of new material.
Managing to match critical acclaim with huge success, Radiohead are perhaps the most significant British group of their era. With the release of ‘In Rainbows’ in 2007 the band pioneered a new form of music distribution, asking fans to simply download the material and donate what they felt it was worth.
An enormous success, fans have been kept waiting for new material. Entering the studio earlier this year, Radiohead have only released a handful of new tracks since the success of ‘In Rainbows’.
Writing an essay for Index On Censorship, bass player Colin Greenwood broke the news that the band had completed a batch of songs for their proposed new album.
“We have just finished another group of songs,” he wrote. “And have begun to wonder about how to release them in a digital landscape that has changed again.”
Continuing, Greenwood admitted that changes in technology have undermined new music. “It seems to have become harder to own music in the traditional way, on a physical object like a CD, and instead music appears the poor cousin of software, streamed or locked into a portable device like a phone or iPod.”
Later in the essay the bass player discussed the success of the ‘In Rainbows’ distribution scheme. Colin Greenwood appeared pleased with its success, but still harked back to the established industry model.
“I understand that we have become our own broadcasters and distributors,” he said. “But I miss the editorialisation of music, the curatorial influences of people like John Peel or a good record label. I liked being on a record label that had us on it, along with Blur, Beastie Boys and The Beatles.”
Radiohead were previously signed to EMI, with whom they parted company in 2007. Self-releasing ‘In Rainbows’ as a download, the band signed to XL Recordings who dealt with the physical release.
