Music Review: Atoms for Peace

Thom Yorke’s infatuation with progressive electronic music has been apparent ever since the Kid A/Amnesiac sessions. In his first solo record, The Eraser, Yorke rejected the guitar-driven rock of Hail to the Thief and instead dove into a minimalist, loop-heavy aesthetic. In the past few years, Yorke has found inspiration in the sounds of contemporary UK bass music, even dabbling with DJing at the Low End Theory and Fabric, notorious hotspots for electronic music. 2011’s The King of Limbs drew heavily from 2-step and future garage and the band even commissioned a remix album featuring the likes of Pearson Sound, Blawan and Jamie XX.

Atoms for Peace, his most recent project, started as a vehicle to perform The Eraser live. The supergroup consists of musicians that are considered cornerstones of ’90s and early ’00s alt-rock: Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, longtime Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, Beck and R.E.M. drummer Joey Waronker and Brazilian percussionist Mauro Refosco. Even with all of this established talent, Yorke is still the creative hub for the group, and AMOK is a follow-up to his debut solo album. Although The Eraser was a tepid foray into glitchy electronica, AMOK is a full immersion. Whereas The Eraser was spare and often underdeveloped, AMOK is restless, both rhythmically and sonically dense. In interviews leading up to the album release, Yorke noted the LP was a “product of getting together, getting wasted and listening to Fela Kuti.” Opener “Before Your Very Eyes…” wears this afrobeat influence on its sleeve and is a funky fusion of skittish reggae and 2-step rhythms. Yorke’s vocals soar over Flea’s relentless bass playing as the album gets off to a flying start. “Default” is another twitchy number, and boasts a majestic chorus: Yorke et al layer an off-kilter, broken beat over sweeping synths reminiscent of Boards of Canada. “Ingenue,” “Dropped” and “Unless” are a trio of throbbing synth tracks that also sport deep bass and frenetic percussion. “Unless,” especially, is notable for its juke flourishes and would sound right at home in a Pearson Sound set. But it is the titular, final track “Amok” that is the album’s best. It creaks and clatters as the vocal loops soar over a haunting synth.

Most supergroup albums are aimless and tend to wander, but AMOK is remarkably cohesive and gets better with each listen. What holds the album back from being truly stellar, however, is its repetitiveness—this isn’t a Radiohead album after all. Although each song is surprisingly hooky, they still feel underdeveloped. What’s more, Flea’s bass playing is criminally underused, and is inexplicably missing or pushed to the background in a number of songs.

Although it is neither likely to arouse the same passions as In Rainbows nor be as consistently inventive as Kid A, AMOK lives up to lofty expectations as another satisfying Thom Yorke project.