Thom Yorke suffered from writer's block while making Radiohead's 'Kid A'

'Kid A' is one of Radiohead's most beloved and praised albums, but its conception wasn't an easy one.

During an interview with Christie's auction house, Thom Yorke revealed that he suffered from severe writer's block while making the record.

“It was the end of 'OK Computer'. We finished touring and I was sort of trapped in my own particular labyrinth, followed by this weird sort of [inner] monologue, a criticism of everything I did," he recalled. “It came from being sort of propelled into this weird state where people were projecting things onto me in a particular way. I didn’t have the right sort of support mechanisms to deal with it, so I internalized a lot of it.”

“It kind of shut me down, and so whenever I tried to write something, whenever I sat down in front of any instrument, I sort of froze," Yorke added. "I had this thing in the way, this little voice. I remember sitting, endlessly, endlessly playing the riff for ‘Everything in its Right Place,’ sort of trying to meditate my way out of it and not being able to.”

Watch the full interview above, and look out for the writer's blocks segment around the 4-minute mark.

'Kid A' turned 21 this year and its follow-up, A'mnesiac', turned 20. Radiohead's celebrating both anniversaries with a three album package, titled 'KID A MNESIA'.

This article was first published on iheart.com and is republished here with permission