Radiohead have surprise-released a new album of live recordings from the Hail to the Thief era. It features performances of most of the album’s tracks – omitting ‘Backdrifts’ and ‘A Punch Up at a Wedding’ – captured in London, Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, and Dublin between 2003 and 2009. Following the digital edition that’s out today, a one-off vinyl pressing will be released on Halloween, available for pre-order now. Listen to it below.
Hail to the Thief (Live Recordings 2003-2009) was mixed by Ben Baptie and mastered by Matt Colton. In a statement about the record, Thom Yorke said, “In the process of thinking how to build arrangements for the Shakespeare Hamlet/Hail to the Thief theatre production I asked to hear some archive live recordings of the songs. I was shocked by the kind of energy behind the way we played and it really helped me find a way forward. For us, back in the day, the finishing of this record was particularly messy and fraught, we were very proud of it but there was a taste left in our mouths, it was a dark time in so many ways. Anyway we decided to get these live recordings mixed (it would have been insane to keep them for ourselves) by Ben Baptie, who did an amazing job. It has all been a very cathartic process, we very much hope you enjoy them.”
