Radiohead

This week Thom Yorke and company, the band most commonly known as Radiohead, return with their seventh studio album, In Rainbows, an industry-defying response to the creative constraints enacted by big-name labels. Commemorating the fulfillment of their record contract, the band was able to release In Rainbows completely on their own terms, meaning free from any and all studio involvement. Fortunately for us, no record companies also means no hefty price tag. The album is available for download on inrainbows.com, where each user is free to decide for himself how much to pay for the album-and Radiohead makes it clear that free is most certainly an option.

Thom Yorke has described the new album as "about that anonymous fear thing, sitting in traffic, thinking, 'I'm sure I'm supposed to be doing something else.'" Radiohead are masters at creating this paranoid atmosphere by utilizing a combination of Yorke's falsetto, Johnny Greenwood's guitar work and heavenly orchestration.

The up-tempo opener, "15 Step," teems with paranoid, chugging backdrops for Yorke's quavering voice. Guitar-driven tracks such as "Bodysnatchers" and "Reckoner" compliment slower ones where Yorke's wailing reaches its full potential. "Nude" is the simplest yet most terrifying track on the album. The combination of Yorke's voice against Greenwood's gliding guitar creates a feeling of uneasy calm before some impending chaos, as if in the eye of a storm. The album properly ends with a signature Thom Yorke solo piece, "Videotape," a haunting melody about a man recording his good-byes to his family before reaching the "Pearly Gates" of Heaven. Yorke's quaver and morose piano work infuse the valediction with a peaceful longing.

Radiohead have been able to do whatever they want to for years, mostly because whatever Thom Yorke touches seems to turn to gold. This time, they've taken it to the next level. Unfettered by the pesky middleman that is the record label, Radiohead has again managed to release an album that is introspective yet culturally relevant.