Amok

**Thom Yorke has built such a reputation that news of any upcoming releases he’s involved in generates huge excitement from fans, even before anything audible emerges. His latest project is Atoms for Peace, a new supergroup including Red Hot Chili Peppers’ bassist Flea, as well as longtime Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich. _Amok_ builds upon Yorke’s 2006 solo album _The Eraser_, which composed desolate visions through glitchy electronic beats and uneven rhythms.**

_Amok_ continues this process, but creates something far more complete, layered and surprisingly up-tempo, where the improvised input of all involved is put to good use. The warped synths and staccato percussion create an unusual artificial tone, and Yorke’s typically cryptic and world-weary lyrics correlate with his **Radiohead** work, but _Amok_ is far more distinct and danceable than, say, the underwhelming _The King Of Limbs_. There is even room for some warmth amongst the computerised overproduction, such as Yorke’s emotive falsetto in track ‘Ingenue’.

But at its heart, _Amok_ is a passionate experiment combining unconventional R&B beats with pulsing electronica, and it’s at these moments of fusion where the album creates its standout moments, from the pounding opening of ‘Dropped’ to the sweeping synths of ‘Default’. The offbeat and production-heavy texture can feel overpowering at times, but it’s the individual instances of quirk within the layers which surprise, and this is what makes _Amok_ highly listenable, although some of the more indistinct tracks towards the final third do get lost beneath the more whimsical offerings. Yet overall, you get the sense that the collaborators all simply had a lot of fun making this record, and that comes across, making _Amok_ distinctly human beneath all the artifice.

**Similar To:** Radiohead, Burial

**MP3**: ‘Default’, ‘Dropped’