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Thom Yorke - The Eraser

Album Reviews

Obviously it's going to sound more than a little like a Radiohead release, it's the same creative influences fronting both projects after all.

It's not a 'solo album'. It's also not a Radiohead album. Obviously it's going to sound more than a little like a Radiohead release, it's the same creative influences fronting both projects after all. But that doesn't seem to leave anyone any clearer about what we're supposed to think of 'The Eraser'.

Inevitably, it's Really Rather Good. Equally as obvious (as preconceptions go at least) is the fact that it's both depressing and political, and often simultaneously: the most talked about track being 'Harrowdown Hill', the place where David Kelly committed suicide, suitably eerie track, and first single to be taken from the record.

The despondent theme is most brutal in 'Black Swan', Yorke's distinctive vocals working their way through repeated "everything is fucked up"s, and hits right from the start - the title track's opening line being "are you only being nice because you want something?".

It's not all in the vocals however, as the static bleeps and sampled sounds throughout 'The Eraser' collide to create what seems best described as a hollow record: it's the space between the sounds and what Yorke doesn't say which, strangely, seems more important. Rating: 9/10