Radiohead
"Knives Out"
(Parlophone)

Single of the fortnight

It is an extraordinary choice for a single, but then again Amnesiac is quite an extraordinary album from an utterly sublime band. ‘Knives Out’ is one Radiohead’s grislier moments, a startling death-obsessed song where Thom Yorke sings about the thousand-yard stare of someone just about to die - “Look into my eyes/and not come back“ - and a menacing sense of hidden but very real violence.

What makes this single so remarkable is Jonny Greenwood’s awesome guitar-playing that gorgeously tips its hat to his childhood hero and guru Johnny Marr. Greenwood’s genius elevates a harrowing song to something of a cathartic triumph. Total genius, but what more do you expect from the greatest band on earth?

Eamon Sweeney

HotPress
16.08.01