Since their debut in Los Angeles in October 2009 a super group featuring Thom Yorke of Radiohead, Flea of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Nigel Godrich Radiohead’s long-term producer and well-travelled percussionists Joey Waronker and Mauro Refosco has been doing the rounds over in the states. Finally christened by Thom Yorke as Atoms for Peace, they have been making sporadic appearances playing a mixture of tracks from Yorke’s solo album The Eraser, a few more obscure Radiohead tracks and a few covers of bands such as Joy Division.
But in September 2011 it was confirmed that indeed the band were working on an album and as of late new songs have been appearing on YouTube taken from fans’ cameras and phones at the band’s live shows and DJ sets. It was at the beginning of August that Atoms For Peace put out their first official release, a remix of Other Lives track ‘Tamer Animals’ with a remix of one of their own ‘Other Side-Stuck Together’ as the B-side.
But in a low key release on iTunes the band have now released their first true single ‘Default’ which due to Yorke and Flea’s earlier comments leads us to believe that an album is soon to follow. However they seem to be keeping up with the fashion that Radiohead partook in with their last release The King of Limbs as details are very sparse and there is no confirmed release date or title. So as far as anyone outside the band and their producers know the album could be here next week or next year.
‘Default’ itself is as you would expect an electronic beat overlaid with Thom Yorke’s unmistakable haunting falsetto. While it does not stray far from the familiar for Yorke, the familiar for him is so far out there it is still something that sounds like nothing else, with music that is best described as an experience. A brilliant track that just makes you want to groove to the music and one that leaves you with very high hopes for the elusive album.
With Radiohead currently in the midst of a world tour, I would like to stick my neck out and say that we can expect the album from Atoms for Peace to come sometime soon after their show pulls off the road in the middle of November.
