A Moon Shaped Pool

Background

Several songs on A Moon Shaped Pool were written years before the recording. Radiohead first performed "True Love Waits" in 1995, and attempted to record it several times, but could not settle on an arrangement. Over the years, it became one of their best-known unreleased songs. Radiohead first worked on "Burn the Witch" in the sessions for Kid A (2000) and again in subsequent album sessions. The songwriter, Thom Yorke, first performed "Present Tense" in a solo set at the UK Latitude Festival in 2009.

During the tour for their eighth album, The King of Limbs (2011), Radiohead performed new material, including the future Moon Shaped Pool tracks "Identikit" and "Ful Stop". On tour in 2012, they recorded two songs at the Third Man Records studio in Nashville, Tennessee, including a version of "Identikit", but discarded the recordings as substandard. After the tour ended that year, Radiohead entered hiatus and the members worked on side projects.

Recording

Radiohead began work on A Moon Shaped Pool with their longtime producer, Nigel Godrich, in their Oxfordshire studio in September 2014. Yorke had prepared few demos and there was no rehearsal period. According to the guitarist Ed O'Brien, "We just went straight into recording ... The sound emerged as we recorded." Radiohead were slow to regain momentum after their break and worked in "fits and starts". They initially worked on songs written by O'Brien, but found that they did not fit Radiohead. O'Brien saved them for his debut solo album, Earth (2020).

The Oxfordshire sessions lasted until Christmas. In 2015, Radiohead spent three weeks in the La Fabrique studio near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France, building on their recordings. The studio, originally a 19th-century mill producing art pigment, had been used by musicians including Morrissey and Nick Cave and houses the world's largest vinyl record collection.

Instead of using computers, Godrich recorded to tape with analog multitrack recorders, inspired by Motown and early David Bowie records. This added creative limits, as rerecording a take meant erasing the previous take. According to the bassist, Colin Greenwood, this forced the band to "make decisions in the moment; it's very much the opposite of having your album stored on a terabyte hard drive".

For the introduction to "Daydreaming", Radiohead slowed the tape, creating a pitch-warping effect. The guitarist Jonny Greenwood used the music programming language Max to manipulate the piano on "Glass Eyes". "Identikit" developed from loops of Yorke's vocals recorded during the King of Limbs sessions. The drummer Clive Deamer, who had performed with Radiohead on the King of Limbs tour and appeared on their 2011 double single "The Daily Mail" and "Staircase", played additional drums on "Ful Stop".

The strings and choir sections were arranged by Jonny Greenwood and performed by the London Contemporary Orchestra, with Hugh Brunt as conductor. The orchestra had previously worked with Greenwood on his score for the 2012 film The Master. The strings were recorded at RAK Studios in London. For "Burn the Witch", the players used guitar plectrums rather than bows, creating a percussive effect. Yorke described "Daydreaming", finished early in the La Fabrique sessions, as a breakthrough for the album. Greenwood had the cellists detune their cellos, creating a "growling" sound. Additional string and choir parts were recorded but cut.

Music

A Moon Shaped Pool incorporates art rock, folk, chamber music, ambient music and baroque pop. It combines electronic elements such as drum machines and synthesisers, acoustic timbres such as guitar and piano, and string and choral arrangements, which feature more heavily than on previous Radiohead albums. The Guardian characterised A Moon Shaped Pool as more restrained and "pared back" than Radiohead's earlier work. Jonny Greenwood cited the jazz musician Alice Coltrane as an influence, saying: "It's not jazz piano, exactly, but there's elements of that ... You have big ambition and you get as far as you can with it."

The songs are sequenced alphabetically. Greenwood said this was chosen only because the order worked well. "Burn the Witch" features "pulsating" strings and electronic percussion. "Daydreaming" is an ambient song with a "simple, sad" piano motif, "spooky" backmasked vocals, and electronic and orchestral elements. "Ful Stop" features "malevolent" synthesiser, a "bustle" of rhythms, and phasing guitar arpeggios. "Glass Eyes" has manipulated piano, strings, and lyrics evocative of an "unguarded phone call". "Identikit" has a jam-like opening, choral vocals, and "spacey" electronics, and ends with an "agitated" guitar solo.

"The Numbers" begins as a "loose-limbed, early 70s jam session", with strings reminiscent of Serge Gainsbourg's 1970 album Histoire de Melody Nelson. "Present Tense" is a ballad with bossa nova elements. "Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief" features strings, electronic percussion and distorted synthesiser. "True Love Waits" is a piano ballad with polyrhythmic loops and textures. The special edition of A Moon Shaped Pool contains two additional tracks: "Ill Wind", featuring a bossa nova rhythm and "icy" synthesisers, and "Spectre", an orchestral piano ballad.

Lyrics

The lyrics discuss love, forgiveness, and regret with, according to Larson, "a sense that beyond tectonic heartbreak there is an anaemic acceptance that is kind of beautiful if you don't get too sad about it". Several critics felt the lyrics were coloured by Yorke's separation from his partner of almost 25 years, Rachel Owen, noting that the backmasked vocals of "Daydreaming", when reversed, resemble the words "half of my life". Spencer Kornhaber of the Atlantic wrote that A Moon Shaped Pool "makes the most sense when heard as a document of a wrenching chapter for one human being".

Other themes include climate change and call for revolution on "The Numbers", and the dangers of authority and groupthink on "Burn the Witch". Yorke feared that political songs alienated some listeners, but decided it was better than writing "another lovey-dovey song about nothing". He was conscious that lyrics such as "a river running dry" and "the system is a lie" were cliches, but felt there was no other way to state them: "How else are you supposed to say 'the system is a lie'? Why bother hiding it? It's a lie. That's it."

The Guardian wrote that whereas Radiohead's 2003 album Hail to the Thief had addressed the era of Tony Blair and George W. Bush, A Moon Shaped Pool could become the "accidental soundtrack" to the Donald Trump presidency. Of the refrain "one day at a time" from "The Numbers", Yorke said: "One day a time, mate, you will be impeached shortly, mate. You are not a leader, love ... You can't sustain this. It's not gonna work. One day a time. We ain't stupid."

Artwork

The artwork for A Moon Shaped Pool was created by Yorke with the longtime Radiohead collaborator Stanley Donwood. Donwood worked in a barn with speakers connected to the La Fabrique studio where they recorded nearby, allowing their music to influence his art. Wanting to move away from figurative art and create work that was more a product of chance, Donwood initially conceived a robotic device that would squirt paint at canvases, but this proved technically difficult. Instead, he experimented with weather, leaving canvases outdoors to allow the elements to affect the paint. Donwood continued the weathering process in Oxfordshire during the band's winter break, with "completely different results", before photographing the works and editing them in Photoshop with Yorke.

Release

As they had done for previous releases, Radiohead formed a limited liability company, Dawn Chorus, to release A Moon Shaped Pool. It was released as a download on 8 May 2016 on Radiohead's website, online music stores including the iTunes Store and Amazon Music, and some paid streaming services. On Google Play Music, it was accidentally released several hours early.

Ahead of the release, Brian Message, a partner in Radiohead's management company, said he hoped Yorke would allow the album to be released on Spotify. Yorke and Godrich had publicly criticised Spotify in 2013, arguing that it cannot support new artists. Message said Yorke felt Spotify did not have enough paying subscribers. Spotify had been in "advanced discussions" with XL and Radiohead's management to make A Moon Shaped Pool the first album available exclusively to users with premium subscriptions, but no agreement was reached. A Spotify spokesperson, Jonathan Prince, said Spotify and Radiohead had explored "new approaches" but could not overcome technical problems in time for the release. A Moon Shaped Pool was added to Spotify on 17 June.

CD and LP editions were released in Japan on 15 June through Hostess Entertainment and in other countries on 17 June through XL Recordings. Radiohead sold a special edition from their website, which shipped from September. It contains the album on CD and two heavyweight 12" vinyl records, plus an additional CD with two extra tracks: "Ill Wind" and the previously released "Spectre". The special edition features packaging inspired by the albums for 78 rpm shellac records in the La Fabrique studio, additional artwork and an original piece of master tape, less than a second in length, from one of Radiohead's prior recording sessions. As tape degrades over time, Radiohead decided to include it in the special edition rather than have it "end up as landfill". "Ill Wind" was added to streaming services in January 2019. On 20 June 2020, a white vinyl repress of A Moon Shaped Pool was released through independent online record stores for Love Record Stores Day.

Promotion

Radiohead conducted no interviews and did not tour before the release of A Moon Shaped Pool. O'Brien said the band members were not ready to talk about it when it was released: "We didn't want to talk about it being quite hard to make. We were quite fragile, and we needed to find our feet."

On 30 April 2016, days before the album was announced, fans who had previously made orders from Radiohead received embossed cards with lyrics from the lead single, "Burn the Witch". On 1 May, Radiohead deleted all content from their website and social media profiles, replacing them with blank images. Pitchfork interpreted the move as symbolic of Radiohead's re-emergence. Donwood said the idea had been "a way of getting rid of all of that had gone before ... It was like being some sort of evil Bond villain or something, in some lair, pressing buttons ... It was creatively brilliant fun."

After releasing excerpts on Instagram, Radiohead released "Burn the Witch" as a download on 3 May. It was accompanied by a stop-motion animated music video that homages the 1960s Trumptonshire Trilogy children's television programmes and the 1973 horror film The Wicker Man. Three days later, Radiohead released "Daydreaming", accompanied by a video directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, for whom Greenwood had scored several films. The video was projected in 35mm film in select theatres. On the same day, Radiohead announced that their next album would be released online the following Sunday, but did not reveal the title.

BBC Radio 6 Music played A Moon Shaped Pool in its entirety on the day of release. The following week, Radiohead released the first in a series of video vignettes set to clips from the album by artists and filmmakers including Michal Marczak, Tarik Barri, Grant Gee, Adam Buxton, Richard Ayoade, Yorgos Lanthimos and Ben Wheatley. These were followed by a fan competition to create a vignette for "Daydreaming". In September and October, Radiohead released video performances of "Present Tense" and "The Numbers". The videos, directed by Anderson, feature Yorke and Greenwood performing with a CR-78 drum machine.

On 17 June 2016, the day of the album's retail release, participating record shops held a promotional event, "Live From a Moon Shaped Pool". The event featured an audio stream curated by Radiohead, a recording of their performance at the Roundhouse, London, and competitions, artwork and other activities. A participating shop in Istanbul closed following an attack by a gang angered by customers drinking beer and playing music during Ramadan. Radiohead released a statement condemning the attack and offering fans in Istanbul "love and support".

Tour

Radiohead toured Europe, North America and Japan from May to October 2016. As with the King of Limbs tour, Radiohead were joined by a second drummer, Clive Deamer. They began a second US tour in March 2017, culminating in April with a headline slot at the Coachella Festival in California. The tour was supported by James Blake, Oliver Coates, the Jewish-Arabic band Dudu Tassa and the Kuwaitis, and Jonny Greenwood's project Junun.

A European tour followed in June and July with further festival shows, including Radiohead's third headline performance at Glastonbury Festival in the UK. In 2018, Radiohead toured North and South America from April to August, including four nights at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The worldwide tour was the 61st-highest-grossing of 2018, earning more than US$ 28 million. O'Brien was hesitant to join the tour, saying he no longer "resonated" with Radiohead, but said later he was glad to have seen it through.

On 19 July 2017, Radiohead performed in Tel Aviv, disregarding the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign for an international cultural boycott of Israel. The decision was criticised by creative figures including Roger Waters and Ken Loach, and a petition urging Radiohead to cancel the concert was signed by more than 50 prominent figures. Yorke responded in a statement: "Playing in a country isn't the same as endorsing the government. Music, art and academia is about crossing borders not building them, about open minds not closed ones, about shared humanity, dialogue and freedom of expression." A concert in Glasgow was attended by pro-Palestinian protestors, triggering anger from Yorke on stage. The Israeli musician Dudu Tassa said Radiohead selected his band to support them in the US because they wanted to bring people from Israel after performing in Tel Aviv. After the tour, Radiohead went on hiatus and the members worked on solo projects until their 2025 European tour.

Sales

A Moon Shaped Pool was Radiohead's sixth number one on the UK Albums Chart. It also reached number one in Ireland, Norway and Switzerland, and the top ten in several other countries. It was certified gold in the UK on 24 June 2016 for sales of over 100,000 copies. Following the retail release in June, A Moon Shaped Pool returned to the top of the UK chart with sales of 44,000. Of these, 39,000 were retail copies, including 10,500 vinyl, making it the week's bestselling vinyl record. It was the UK's fourth-bestselling vinyl album of 2016, behind Blackstar by David Bowie, Back to Black by Amy Winehouse and the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack. "Burn the Witch" was the year's 26th-bestselling UK vinyl single.

In the US, A Moon Shaped Pool sold 181,000 copies in its first week, reaching number three on the Billboard 200, the week's highest debut. It was Radiohead's best American sales week since the release of their 2003 album Hail to the Thief. With the release of the special edition a few months later, A Moon Shaped Pool rose to number 11 on the Billboard 200 and number one on the vinyl album chart, selling 21,000 vinyl copies in one week. It was certified gold in the US on 9 November 2018, for sales of over 500,000 copies. After the bonus track "Ill Wind" was added to streaming services in September 2019, it reached number eight on the Billboard Alternative Digital Songs chart and number 24 on the Hot Rock Songs chart.

Critical reception

On the review aggregator website Metacritic, A Moon Shaped Pool has a score of 88 out of 100 based on 43 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Patrick Ryan of USA Today wrote that "the brooding, symphonic and poignant A Moon Shaped Pool ... was well worth the wait". Chris Gerard of PopMatters felt it was "worthy of Radiohead's peerless catalogue, a rich addition to what is the most vital and important string of rock albums of the last 30 years". Jamieson Cox of the Verge praised the string arrangements and "emotional magnanimity". Andy Beta of Rolling Stone described it as "a haunting, stunning triumph" and Radiohead's "most gorgeous and desolate album", praising its timbres and melodies. The Rolling Stone critic Will Hermes wrote that "it's Yorke's voice that holds the emotional centre, and it's never been more affecting ... [A Moon Shaped Pool is] one of their most musically and emotionally arresting albums."

Sam Richards of NME described A Moon Shaped Pool as "an album of eerie, elusive beauty that is strange, shimmering and uncertain all at the same time". Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote for AllMusic that "there's a melancholic comfort to its ebb and flow, a gentle rocking motion that feels comforting; it's a tonic to the cloistered, scattered King of Limbs and even the sleek alienation of Kid A". The Pitchfork editor Jayson Greene felt the album was coloured by Yorke's separation: "The impact of trauma, a sort of car crash of the soul, is palpable. The music here feels loose and unknotted, broken open in the way you can only be after a tragedy." Pitchfork later named "Daydreaming" and "True Love Waits" among the best songs of 2016.

Eric Renner Brown of Entertainment Weekly praised the variety and scale: "By nature, Radiohead albums will always be somewhat epic, but this one is more consistently grandiose than any of the band's releases since 2000's masterpiece Kid A." Jon Pareles, writing for The New York Times, wrote that A Moon Shaped Pool was perhaps Radiohead's "darkest statement – though the one with the band's most pastoral surface". He praised Yorke's vocals and Greenwood's string arrangements, writing: "Both Mr. Yorke and Mr. Greenwood are relentlessly inquisitive listeners, lovers of melody and explorers of idioms, makers of puzzles who don't shy away from emotion." Chris Barton of the Los Angeles Times described A Moon Shaped Pool as "a rich and engrossing listen that somehow finds more undiscovered territory for a band that has built a career on doing just that". MTV's Simon Vozick-Levinson wrote: "A Moon Shaped Pool provides a thrilling answer to the existential concerns that confront any band that's made it this far ... After all this time, hearing these five old friends challenge themselves into a new phase of evolution can still blow even a jaded fan's mind."

Accolades

A Moon Shaped Pool was the fifth Radiohead album nominated for the Mercury Prize, making Radiohead the most shortlisted act in Mercury Prize history. At the 59th Annual Grammy Awards, it was nominated for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Rock Song (for "Burn the Witch"). It was also shortlisted for the Independent Music Companies Association Album of the Year Award for the best album released on an independent European label. Numerous publications named it among the best albums of the year and decade.

Personnel

Adapted from the album liner notes.