Thom Yorke doesn’t really link with fun. The principal man of the band Radiohead has entertained his fans with his intense, angst, and imprisoned sound since the beginning of his career. With his name upon the altar of fame, they are greeted warmly by everyone. But this was not enough for the fans.
Even after selling 30 million albums, the crowd still wants more from this artist. With this, Radiohead members have been involved with Non-Radiohead projects in their careers. For instance, guitarist Jonny Greenwood got into his classical-leaning orchestral compositions, and drummer Philip Selway released two solo albums. With this, even the frontman Thom went on and explored his musical interests.
The projects he has worked on over the years show his previous music references. His mix of electronic and acoustic sounds was something that pushed Radiohead so much in their career. And now, even his Non-Radiohead work is mostly based on such tunes. His composition of such sound has always helped in creating the mood he wants to fabricate.
Here are some of Thom’s best Non-Radiohead works.
Suspiria
The cult horror soundtrack for the film Suspiria, this record is a sinister-sounding track for such a disturbing film. Thom has worked and written songs on piano but he hasn’t created or released a full project with front and center instruments.
Despite his reluctance to not work in film, this was one of his first works for movies. He had also rejected an offer from director David Fincher to create the music for Fight Club. Also, the song ‘Suspirium’ was also shortlisted for “Best Original Song.” The eerie feeling that this album has is the most hauntingly beautiful music Yorke has ever produced.
I’ve Seen It All
In the late 1990s, Björk and Thom were two of the biggest artist in the world of rock and pop. There were experimenting with more technologies and electronic-based tunes in their song. They were ready to roll into the future as the new millennium approached.
Björk said to the MTC in 2001, “We’ve known about each other for a while. [We were] always just about to do something together, and we were just waiting for the right situation.” She also added, “I was really excited about this song; I thought that I finally had a song that deserved his voice, ’cause he’s definitely my favorite male singer in the world.”
The Smile
In collaboration with Tom Skinner, the drummer of Sons of Kemet, Yorke, and Greenwood formed a new alternative rock band. The Smile roots back to the original days and gives us Yorke and Greenwood in their guitar-rock phase.
The Smile is the signature band and is Yorke’s side project. He has experimented a lot in this group. With the base sound of rock, the electronic tunes in the band have given The Smile a great tune in terms of a rock band.
Atoms for Peace
When Yorke was to play a solo show in 2009, he wanted to experiment with the sounds of The Eraser. He wanted to use acoustic instruments and wanted to recreate the music. With the bassist Flea from RHCP, Joey Waronker from Beck, and Mauro Refosco on percussion.
The band was originally formed to back up Eraser songs in the concert but later on, they produced a full-length LP, Amok in 2013. Also ‘Atoms For Peace’ is the most simplistic track ever written by Yorke.
Anima
This album is the most experimental album of his entire career. With so much experience in hand in the music world, Anima is an album that is dark. It is influenced by electronic and woozy tones.
The keyboard in this album is exceptional with futuristic-sounding tunes. This shows the evolution of Yorke. With such a dystopian tone, Anima was the third studio album and has themes of anxiety.
The Eraser
Released back in 2006, this is the first project he did outside of Radiohead. This is a deceptively straightforward album. With electronic tones, the instrumentation in this album also has engagement in jazz.
The Erase is a wonderful album. Many songs in the album also gave strong DJing indication. ‘Black Swan’ and ‘And It Rained All Night’ surely was big electronic songs that made Yorke a DJ rookie.
