Published by Mason Oldridge, 3 November 2022
While the 90s rock music scene in the UK was dominated by the straightforward guitar and tone-deaf vocals of Britpop, Radiohead was busy pioneering alternative rock, a genre that would break through years later. 30 years after the release of their debut single Creep, we take a look back at the incredibly successful career of alternative rock band Radiohead and how their unique sound creates atmosphere like no-one else.
Radiohead came into the public eye with Creep. Their debut single might have projected them into the limelight but differs from their usual sound, aligning more with Nirvana-esque grunge that was heard in the US at the time. Still, the contrast between the calm verses and aggressive chorus, both supported by self-loathing lyrics was an initial sign that the band could set a particular tone.
One day when I was depressed as a child, my dad told me in response “don’t listen to Radiohead”. I then spent my childhood avoiding them as a dangerous trigger for negativity, but in fairness, he did have a point. Moving on to their follow-up album The Bends, Street Spirit (Fade Out) has got to be one of the most depressing songs ever, courtesy of the sinister guitar. Fake Plastic Trees is arguably the main single from the album and is pretty pessimistic too as the lyrics match the downtempo acoustic guitar. The tone may be a sad one but continued to show how they build an atmosphere through the use of their lyrics and music and the connection between the two.
Their third album OK Computer is widely regarded as the best and most influential album of all time. It could be said that this is where Radiohead came into their own and debuted their totally unique sound. The album creates its own dystopia, possibly foreshadowing the 21st century. Paranoid Android was the first single to be released and is a 6-and-a-half-minute long rhapsody of four sections, with its haunting background sounds giving it an otherworldly feel. From the acoustic guitar in the first section, through to the chilling choral vocals in the third and the guitar outro in the fourth, the composition is nothing short of a masterpiece and creates a scary atmosphere akin to paranoia as Yorke cries out “What’s there?” This masterfully matches the setting which partially inspired the lyrics in which Yorke was at a bar surrounded by cocaine-fuelled strangers with one woman becoming violent and acting “inhuman”. Karma Police, however, is about stress and replicates that feeling with its mix of acoustic guitar, malicious lyrics and distorted outro. No Surprises, on the other hand, features morbid lyrics and creates a sense of death with its dream pop sound mirroring the dreamlike state of crossing over and its childlike glockenspiel representing childhood as life becomes full circle. However, Exit Music (For a Film) creates an atmosphere like no other Radiohead song. Originally created for the ending of the new Romeo & Juliet film released at the time, the lyrics focus on the film’s themes of love and death. The song builds throughout, starting with acoustic guitar, then choral vocals followed by background noise before drumbeat gives way to distortion, culminating in an epic outpour of emotion with Yorke exclaiming “now we are one in everlasting peace” preceding the outro in which both the music and Yorke’s vocals wind down and drown out. With such a complex structure, the band have created an atmosphere of impending and then occurring doom. The song was used in the final scenes of the Black Mirror episode Shut Up and Dance and perfectly so too. After the twist of the protagonist Kenny being a paedophile, the song opens as Kenny realises his secret has been exposed (impending doom) and the culmination of emotional outpour plays as the police arrive (occurring doom). Both the tragedy-drama film and the anthology series see the song heighten the tension in the scenes as Radiohead have helped set such a sinister atmosphere. I have never had chills more than from the ending of Shut Up and Dance, which I massively credit Radiohead with, and struggle to listen to the song to this day due to the effect the atmosphere it created had on me.
As Britpop faded as a culture, Radiohead paved the way for the post-Britpop era as a flourish of new rock bands entered the scene. Ironically, it was at this stage that the band had become disillusioned with rock music, having suffered burnout, and moved towards an electronic direction. Their fourth album Kid A incorporated ambient music after Yorke was particularly inspired by artists such as Aphex Twin. The band defied industry practice by not releasing any singles or music videos and toured in a custom-made tent. Opening track Everything In Its Right Place is an ambient track and sees the activity of having produced lyrics by cutting up and randomly forming abstract phrases take form as Yorke sings of waking up sucking a lemon. The ambient sounds, matched with Yorke’s smooth vocals and obscure lyrics creates a mellow atmosphere, almost having a calming and soothing effect. Eighth track Idioteque has a rapid beat as ambient sounds play over it and makes use of sampling and looping, seeing Radiohead branch out to new forms of producing music and subsequently creating new, different atmospheres.
Radiohead’s latest album A Moon Shaped Pool was released in 2016 and proved the band are still going strong with their music, demonstrating the capability to create a particular atmosphere. Opening track and lead single Burn the Witch saw a focus on string arrangements by Greenwood. The fast-paced strings create an atmosphere of rushed panic and fear, aided by a fantastic stop-motion music video about human sacrifice. Further evidence of their skill of creating atmospheres is the use of Decks Dark in the closing scene of Ozark’s series premiere. The dark song hints at the darkness to come for the protagonist Marty, and its tone matches the scene beautifully.
Radiohead are exceptionally experimental yet with each of their different sounds they’ve produced have managed to combine music, vocals and lyrics together in a way that births a different atmosphere each time, whether a chilling, depressing or cynical one. But if you give such a skilful task to such a talented and unique band, this is what you’ll get.