Forget The King of Limbs, ignore Atoms For Peace, and put aside critics comments calling Yorke’s choice to release Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes for free via a file sharing website a “gimmick”. Go into this album without your pre-conceptions and scepticism. This album is indicative of Thom’s transition into smarter, more mature electronic music.
Thom Yorke’s undeniable distinctive sound is still here and there are obvious similarities between this and his most recent work, but there is an air of something fresh and new between the bars. I won’t pretend this album is going to change the way the electronic genre is heard or claim this kind of music has never been made before. This is not the Kid A of the 2010s. It is however, important to recognise that Thom’s sound IS undoubtedly developing into something more beautiful than he has ever been able to achieve before.
Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes takes the things you like the most about Amok and The King of Limbs and Kid A, and puts them together into this gorgeous, distorted yet smooth little ball of computerised emotion. First track “Brain In A Bottle” provides an Actress-esque, synth led introduction to the record, complete with chillingly classic Yorke vocals, repeated layered airy “aah”s providing those hair standing up on the back of your neck moments. Within the first minute of the album I found myself smiling, captivated, and absolutely desperate for more of this.
The following track “Guess Again!” is equally stunning, featuring a lower than usual vocal from Yorke. The track is piano led and uses repetitive claps throughout, allowing the main focus to be on the powerful lyrics. Thom creates a disturbing, dream like image, crooning effortlessly over the melody. “While dogs are howling / Behind the curtains / I hold onto my children / The creatures staring in”.
The best track of the album for me, is “Truth Ray”. Slow, prolonged synth is accompanied by a slow electronic drum beat, reminiscent of Codex, though far more interesting, and a lot more heart breaking. It’s the kind of music that almost feels like it’s encouraging you to lie down in a dark room and stare at the ceiling, it wants you to focus on it and it alone. Towards the end Thom uses a typically Thom Yorke vocal effect and repeats short samples of nonsensical half words, engineering them to sound different each time. Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes wouldn’t be complete without this kind of disjointed, uncomforting yet oddly lovely little Yorke-ism.
“Pink Section” is the track that proves Thom Yorke is capable of more than what people expect. Sounding as if it belongs in the Cristobal Tapia de Veer soundtrack to Channel 4 drama Utopia, this short piece is absolute ambient art. Every instrument and every vocal sample on this song has been altered in some way, creating this distorted, dystopian, moany sound. It’s almost like a cracked vinyl playing on a dysfunctional record player. It’s completely fascinating.
Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes is without a doubt the most impressive and most complex piece of music Yorke has put out in years. I have every bit of faith that whatever he and his various band mates release in the future will be as totally, genuinely lovely, as this album is.
4/5
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