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This Radiohead train is just getting started: Only three days since the release of their new single "Burn the Witch" (and its spooky Wicker Man–referencing video), the band is back with more material. In a tweet from the group's official account, a second song, "Daydreaming," was revealed, along with news that the entire album (title still forthcoming) will be available for digital download on Sunday May 8. No doubt many mothers appreciated the timing.
You can watch the video below:
"Daydreaming" is another lovely spell of a song: quiet, insistent, of a piece with "Burn the Witch." You can hear Jonny Greenwood's arpeggiating guitar part this time, but don't call it a rock song. The mood of the new album—at least from what we've heard—is cinematic and shimmering.
The new video is directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. This is the filmmaker's first new work since last year's music documentary Junun, which debuted at the 2015 New York Film Festival. Watching the clip—essentially a long tracking sequence of singer Thom Yorke walking through many buildings—is mesmerizing. You bring your own meanings to it: Is he desperate to get somewhere? Or is he aimless? Is he arriving or departing? Is his walk just about the thrill of motion? At one point, Yorke steps into the sun and closes his eyes.
Fans of Anderson's Boogie Nights and Magnolia will instantly recognize the director's style. Some of these shots, filmed in suburban kitchens, dens and entryways (a lot of it looks like the Valley), feel like they could be outtakes from Anderson's best work. It's an eerie video, suggestively open and exactly what fans of the band should expect. As for that Revenant-like ending: Don't we all want a private cave somewhere?