Thom Yorke’s New Album ‘Anima’ Sounds Like a Thom Yorke Album, and That’s Fine — Because It’s a Head Trip (Listen)

You know what you’re getting into when you listen to music from Thom Yorke. The Radiohead vocalist and innovative/avant-garde musician has a very specific style.

That style is explored throughout his new solo album, Anima, which was released digitally on Friday ahead of a physical release on July 19 (click here to pre-order a copy). That is to say, it’s a trippy, at times nightmarish (in a good way) trip through some psychedelic indie/experimental that sounds both similar to Radiohead’s oeuvre and also far from Radiohead’s oeuvre.

And finally ANIMA… third solo record is out, made by myself and Nigel Godrich: https://t.co/B9Cxhex6Gz pic.twitter.com/siNzql9wGl

— Thom Yorke (@thomyorke) June 27, 2019

If you don’t already like Thom Yorke’s style, you might not like Anima — or you could anyway. Who’s to say? It’s a challenging listen, but the rewards, if they resonate with you, are worth it. Listen to the record below, via Spotify:

The album has an accompanying short film directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, which is already available on Netflix:

Yorke, producer Nigel Godrich and Tarik Barri will tour over the course of the next few months promoting the album — just don’t expect much in terms of Radiohead songs at the live shows, more or less. The dates:

July:
2nd – Cologne, Germany – Palladium
3rd – Frankfurt, Germany – Jahrhunderthalle
4th – Montreux, Switzerland – Montreux Jazz Festival
6th – Ewijk, Netherlands – Down The Rabbit Hole Festival
7th – Paris, France – Philharmonie de Paris, Days Off Festival
8th – Paris, France – Philharmonie de Paris, Days Off Festival
11th – Bilbao, Spain – BBK Live Festival
13th – Lisbon, Portugal – NOS Alive Festival
16th – Barolo, Italy – Collisioni Festival
17th – Codroipo, Italy – Villa Manin
18th – Ferrara, Italy – Piazza Castello
20th – Perugia, Italy – Arena Santa Giuliana, Umbria Jazz Festival
21st – Rome, Italy – Roma Summer Fest, Cavea
26th – Yuzawa-Cho, Japan – Fuji Rock Festival
28th – Seoul, South Korea – Olympic Hall

September:
26th – Laval, Quebec – Place Bell
27th – Toronto – Scotiabank Arena
28th – Pittsburgh – Stage AE
30th – Columbus – Express Live!

October:
4th – Austin – Austin City Limits Music Festival – Zilker Park
6th – Atlanta – Fox Theatre
9th – New Orleans – Mahalia Jackson Theatre for the Performing Arts
11th – Austin – Austin City Limits Music Festival – Zilker Park
18th – Berkeley – Greek Theatre
20th – Seattle – Paramount Theatre
21st – Vancouver – Orpheum
22nd – Portland – The Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
25th – Santa Barbara – Santa Barbara Bowl
26th – Las Vegas – The Chelsea at the Cosmopolitan
29th – Los Angeles – Greek Theatre