More On: radiohead
Watch Radiohead’s Thom Yorke sing new song, live from his basement
Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead release unseen footage for quarantined fans
10 albums to crank up while Chinese virus has you stuck at home
Thom Yorke blessed fans with a surprise solo release on Wednesday night. Radiohead’s enigmatic frontman debuted his new track, titled “Plasticine Figures,” for viewers of the “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” which is being produced through virtual video chats under coronavirus lockdown, then edited and aired later in the evening. A number of musical …
Thom Yorke blessed fans with a surprise solo release on Wednesday night.
Radiohead’s enigmatic frontman debuted his new track, titled “Plasticine Figures,” for viewers of the “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” which is being produced through virtual video chats under coronavirus lockdown, then edited and aired later in the evening. A number of musical acts, including Chvrches and Meghan Trainor, have already delivered low-key performances for the show’s “At Home Edition” since it began broadcasting from Fallon’s house in late March.
Yorke performed his song live via remote video call from his home.
The haunting, three-minute tune was performed solo, with Yorke singing at his piano in a dimly lit room. Followers on Twitter called the song “beautiful” and a “banger.” Many others couldn’t help but point out the fact that the musician appeared to be dispatching “From The Basement” — a reference to longtime Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich’s TV and podcast series by the same name, which featured the whole band for a 2008 live video of their 2007 album “In Rainbows.”
“More you in the basement, please,” pleaded one fan on Twitter.
“So you’re saying there might be another live from the basement performance coming soon?” asked another.
Hours before he was scheduled to appear on “The Tonight Show,” the singer tweeted an image of a sheet of lyrics, with plenty of markup, to show fans the final number was still being workshopped ahead of the show.
Yorke has not announced any plans for a follow-up to his 2019 album “Anima.” Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the artist had been gearing-up for his “Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes” tour, which was set to kick-off in Fairfax, Virginia, on March 28. The outbreak has triggered the cancellation of all show dates for the foreseeable future.
However, he has been on a song-drop spree during 2020, having recently shared four rare tracks — including his contribution to the “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” (2009) soundtrack, the song “Hearing Damage,” as well as B-sides from his side supergroup Atoms for Peace, “What the Eyeballs Did,” “S.A.D.” and “Magic Beanz.”
The band Radiohead, for their part, have also kept fans busy, sharing archival footage on YouTube from legendary gigs throughout their career. Last week, guitarist Ed O’Brien also revealed to British tabloid The Sun that the band had “been talking about live dates next year” — plans which now appear to be on hold due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Said O’Brien, “What happens next with Radiohead? I don’t know.”
