Thom Yorke teases new 'politically charged' solo album set for 2019 release

Friday marks the release of Thom Yorke’s first-ever original film score for Luca Guadagnino’s remake of 'Suspiria'. While fans eagerly await the Radiohead frontman's score, which was previewed by the tracks 'Suspirium' and 'Has Ended', it looks like they have much more to look forward to from the avant-garde multi-instrumentalist.
According to a new interview with Spain’s El Mundo, more new music from the Radiohead frontman is on the way in 2019. Asked about future projects, Yorke told El Mondo that he’s "trying to finish a record" with longtime Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich.

In an insightful interview, Yorke spoke about how the album will be reflective of the current times although he didn't set off for it to be that way. "I didn't have the wish to make politically charged music, but everything I do goes that way anyway," Yorke explained. "I'm trying to finish a record with Nigel, and it's going that way. It’s something that's always there."
Discussing the album's sound, Yorke said, "It’s very electronic, but different to anything I've done till now. The method has been the opposite of depending on computers. It's a weird process by which we make a song in the studio, we break it after that, we rebuild it with a live mix and it comes out different again, and that’s what we record. We've improvised with a lot of sounds and effects. It has been a very weird way to make a record, which is very exciting."
Yorke has debuted several new songs in solo concerts over the last year or so, and presumably, some of that material will find its way onto the forthcoming album. One such track could be 'The Axe', a previously unheard number that Yorke debuted live in Florence this March. Watch fan-shot footage of the live debut below. Yorke also has a US tour coming up in November and December, but it’s curiously named after 'Tomorrow’s Modern Boxes', his debut solo effort from 2014.
Elsewhere in the interview, Yorke shared his thoughts about the UK government's mishandling of Brexit and the political apathy that has ensued. "There is a vacuum of accommodation and denial where all opinions are the same and nothing has consequences," Yorke remarked. "You can demonstrate the corruption that occurred in the Brexit vote and people respond: 'Oh, yes, obvious'."
In the same context, he also spoke about the intense reaction Radiohead received during their recent North American tour when singing "Bring down the government/ They don’t speak for us" on 'No Surprises'. Even more interestingly, when asked, "Can music provoke a reaction in people?" Yorke responded: "Yes. When they listen to Kanye West," followed by 10 seconds of what the writer calls "suffocating laughter and malicious murmuring." (translated from the original Spanish via Stereogum).
This year has been quite a busy one for Yorke. Apart from touring with Radiohead, embarking on a solo tour and working on the score of 'Suspiria', he also recently shared a new track called 'Hands Off The Antarctic', which raises awareness for Greenpeace's Protect The Antarctic campaign and comes with a breathtaking video featuring footage of the Antarctic gathered by Greenpeace's own ship 'Arctic Sunrise'. Check out the music video below, followed by Thom Yorke's full schedule of dates for his upcoming US tour:
Thom Yorke 2018 Tour Dates:
11/23 – Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
11/24 – Boston, MA @ Wang Theatre
11/26 – Brooklyn, NY @ Kings Theatre
11/27 – Brooklyn, NY @ Kings Theatre
11/30 – Washington, DC @ John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Concert Hall
12/01 – Cleveland, OH @ Keybank State Theatre
12/02 – Detroit, MI @ Masonic Temple Cathedral Theatre
12/04 – Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre
12/05 – Milwaukee, WI @ Riverside Theater
12/06 – Minneapolis, MN @ Northrop at the University of Minnesota
12/08 – St. Louis, MO @ Stifel Theatre
12/09 – Kansas City, MO @ Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland
12/11 – Denver, CO @ Paramount Theatre
12/13 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Union
12/15 – San Francisco, CA @ Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
12/17 – San Diego, CA @ The Observatory
12/19 – Los Angeles, CA @ Orpheum Theatre
12/20 – Los Angeles, CA @ Orpheum Theatre
12/22 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan