Thom Yorke on how and why Radiohead wrote 'Kid A'

After the release of OK Computer, Radiohead admittedly had a tough act to follow — themselves. When Kid A eventually dropped in 2000, it marked a radical departure from the previous LP’s sonic delivery.

However, the heavy reliance on the electronica found on the record was not as straight-up a decision as it may have seemed. Thom Yorke explained at the time of Kid A’s release that it was borne as a result of severe depression and writer’s block – consequences of the intensity of touring their 1997 alt-rock classic. In an interview in 2000, Yorke said: “I had this thing for a while where I was falling through trap doors all the time into oblivion. It was happening towards the end of OK Computer. I was a complete fucking mess when that cycle had finished.”

In the same year, during a separate interview, Yorke further explained: “When we finished the OK Computer tour, I had a sort of big block. I basically thought that was it. I thought that I wouldn’t be able to do whatever it is that I do again. We were still sort of working, but I had no faith in it.”

Evidently, the pressures of being propelled into complete and utter stardom had taken its toll on the typically (at least at the time) shy Oxford band. The intense touring schedule and the growing sense that the public eye was persistently on their every creative move had grown to be simply too much to handle. Yorke said: “I was in this endless cycle – and it was very much on my own as well because we didn’t see each other much for a while. And I was doing bits and pieces, mucking around really. But in the process, I was discovering that I’d lost all confidence in myself.”

“If you’ve lost faith in the way that you’re going, then that’s where you end up,” he added. “I always used to use music as a way of moving on and dealing with things, and I sort of felt that the thing that helped me deal with things had been sold to the highest bidder, and I was simply doing its bidding. And I couldn’t handle that. So it all just went round and round in circles for ages. There’s no bravado about we’re gonna shake this shit up, really. It’s more like, ‘I can’t carry on like this.'”

Kid A would simultaneously intrigue and confound the critics of the time. Some felt that Radiohead had intentionally eschewed the conventions of rock music in an edgy attempt to transcend the limits of the genre. In some ways, you might argue that they were right, although Yorke had been eager upon its release to stress the fact that the album had resulted from a personal frustration rather than any intentional creative movement.

“I worry about […] the context of the album, as well,” Yorke said. “I absolutely want no part in any suggestions that our decision to use some electronic instruments is some kind of lifestyle choice. It’s not. You use the instrument to help you get across a certain thing that you want to get across. That’s all.”

“I think people should just decide for themselves, and we’ll be getting on with something else,” he added. “That’s about it. No other feelings. If people have a problem with it, well, I won’t be reading about it anyway. And I won’t be apologising for it. You can’t make music and then be responsible for the way that people receive it all the time.”

This article was first published on faroutmagazine.co.uk by Thomas Leatham