With all of the original Jurassic Park cast still thriving, I’m sure that you’re wondering – well, why isn’t Radiohead too? The band’s longevity and cultural prowess rivals and outlasts other turn on the millennium, decade, and presidential era fads. In fact, you’ve probably heard a Radiohead song slide its way like a middle school boy into your favorite show’s dms.
That being said, Kid A Mnesia proves Radiohead still has it. Although, a more apt title for the album might be 2021: A Space Odyssey. To me, the album haunts like a modern Kubrick classic. Painting the serene soundscape of a vast unknowing conflict that closes not with a bang – but an allusion to something bigger, sadder, and more contemplative. The album closes on “How to Disappear into Strings” and if you’re a fan of Interstellar, you’ll know McConoughey pulls at the illusive scientific theory at the end of the movie. Ultimately, the album is a cinematic masterpiece. And yes, it's begging for Peter Jackson or Christopher Nolan to do something with it as the album’s length clocks in a little over two hours.
Truthfully, Roman Roy could take you to down a train tunnel to private event where the album plays. It’s that niche while also allowing oneself to be lost in the moment with others around. Even more aptly enough, the album itself was originally supposed to be an installation artwork or ‘lived experience’ in order to properly appreciate the artists intent. I listened to it in a Harris Teeter and a Target and probably got the same effect. However, due to the plague which shall not be named, the installation appreciation never came to fruition for many to enjoy. So, they transformed it into a digital experience.
If you’re looking to experience the album at home, there is technically an accompanying video game you can play on your macOS, Windows, or PS5. Players ‘play’ by moving through the museum and experiencing artwork and listening to the larger album. The New Yorker has described it as, “a brutalist cathedral full of byzantine corridors, majestic rooms, banks of buzzing cathode-ray-tube televisions, and carpets of fluttering sketchbook pages.” So, yes – akin to a Harris Teeter and Target.
While true the album is technically a rerelease (and combination dare I say) of earlier work, there are new alterations and additions made to previous tracks. If you’re familiar with Kid A and Amnesiac, different arrangements are likely to catch your ear and make you marvel at what could have previous been on said albums. Moreover, the album does include previous songs that never made it on either album. And, these songs wonderfully fit in, adding to an already impressive arsenal of weaponized material.
So, why take a chance on an album clocking in at over two hours? Well, if you’re here for news, views, and reviews, this is a resounding two thumbs up (or whatever Gen-z is doing nowadays). No bangers, but a musical experience great for the contemplative, lonely, and foreboding at heart. The album is universal for everyone. We all need these moments in our life. So, let Radiohead help you through the dark side of the moon by being the light.
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- Botts
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