XL RECORDINGS
Given some – if far from all – of Thom Yorke’s solo work suffers from the sense it’s been sketched rather than fully realised, one might surmise he’d be suited to soundtracks. So it proves, even when the Radiohead mastermind stretches a piece out over six minutes, as with the Teutonic Volk, whose evolving synth sounds merge with bursts of jazzy percussion and eerie effects suited to a horror film such as Suspiria. There are also A Choir Of One’s 14 minutes of otherworldly, voice-like synths, and, amid more mysterious, abstract experiments elsewhere, he investigates choral realms on Sabbath Incantation. Most people, though, will gravitate to more traditionally structured work such as the extended Suspirium Finale, which thrives on doubling the time the ‘single’ version gave its ghostly piano, haunting strings and Yorke’s beloved falsetto. Has Ended’s understated dub is also quietly compelling, while on Open Again, he could have been beamed in from beyond the grave.