We can get along!

The Eraser

First things first-- The Eraser is a beautiful CD. The only color in the whole CD package, it is a vibrant purple skyline, actually also the artwork for the Harrowdown Hill single, and it is perfectly gorgeous.

Now to the music itself. It opens with "The Eraser", and the sheer brilliance of the song comes out by its first chorus. "Please excuse me I forgot to ask," he almost sneers over his C6 chord, "Are you only being nice because you want something?" Unfortunately, it follows with the much less catchy and meaningful "Analyse" which just basically has Thom following the piano with his vocals one beat later, which is a cool effect but not cool enough to warrant a full song. "The Clock" begins The Eraser's massive song improvement crescendo by starting off with some vaguely Arabic sound effects and vocals before we get to the redeeming part of the song-- the humming chorus. "Black Swan" is basically neo-funk, but it works as neo-funk IS enough to warrant a song. "Skip Divided" to me is where the album launches itself into greatness. Thom Yorke comes out with a curveball -- a humming line followed by a harmonic synth line followed by his super-low vocal line in which he sounds like a vampire in an awesome way, and it takes the song into an awesome direction. "Atoms for Peace" has a melody line that doesn't make any sense at all until the vocals come in, and then the song beautifys your head off, especially in comparison to the last track. "And it Rained All Night" perfectly represents The Eraser as it rides both the lowest bassline and highest vocal-- "I can see you; But I can never reach you..." Then comes "Harrowdown Hill" the guitar infused track that will be the single and uses all repeated lines for emphasis-- all repeated lines except this one -- "We think the same things at the same time- we just can't so anything about it." Then it closes with "Cymbal Rush", a solid end to an album.

The one gripe I can think of is that evil what if-- in this case, what if Thom put "The Eraser" last instead of first. Just a sequencing change, but I would elevate this review's hypothetical points way up. Still an extremely solid album. Even if XL sold out it put it on iTunes.

Don't turn away.

posted by Matt V @ 7/22/2006 12:02:00 PM