Notoriously enigmatic British rockers Radiohead have been tight-lipped about their upcoming ninth studio project since first announcing it last year. But thanks to the loose lips of Brian Message, a partner in the band’s management company, some new information has given many fans the final pieces of the puzzle for this year’s release.
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According to Message, Radiohead’s latest album will be out in June, and will, he says, sound like nothing anyone has ever heard before.
At an industry event in London’s Wanstead Tap, the executive described the upcoming album as typically out-there for the band, saying that it is “something that will probably make many of us go, ‘Wow!'” Message then added, “There’s nothing out there right now that sounds anything like this. And for some people that will be a good thing and for others that probably won’t.”
Message’s statements were the final pieces of the puzzle for the new record, on which fans have been gathering morsels of information for some time.
Many believe the upcoming release will be titled Dawnchoruss, mostly because the band established an entity called Dawnchoruss Ltd. in February of this year; Radiohead established album-titled companies prior to the release of their last two albums, In Rainbows and The King of Limbs. The band has also already showcased what many assume is the new album’s artwork on Twitter.
In addition to sharing art, Radiohead previously announced that they would perform new material on the road this summer, specifically indicating that the new album would be performed at the Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona this June.
In fact, many who bought tickets to see pre-Primavera shows (the band’s tour starts in May) are now probably nervous that they won’t get to hear new material premiered live.
As far as where fans will be able to hear the recorded version, Message said that his management company is doing everything it can to get the new record on streaming services. Previous Radiohead releases have been available digitally, but were limited to downloads.
“I hope — I really hope — it does come out on streaming services,” he reportedly said. “To say that’s been answered, believe me it hasn’t, but I’m praying every night that it does.” He continued, “There should be 200 million-plus paying subscribers [on streaming sites], but there aren’t. So when you’re stuck in the trenches and there are still under 100 million subscribers, it’s hard [to see the benefits of streaming].”
The band and their official management team were notably peeved by Message’s … er … message, and have since issued a statement saying that he is not a part of Radiohead’s management team.
“Any quotes from last night’s event, or any supposition arising from them, should not be attributed to Radiohead’s management or be seen as official quotes on behalf of the group,” they said in a statement.
But while that means the upcoming record still has no official release date, given the meticulous planning that typically goes into each Radiohead album cycle — and just how soon their tour begins — it is unlikely that the record’s release date will change based on the leaked information.
