After his first two studio albums, I never thought Thom Yorke's solo material could ever hold a candle to Radiohead. However, for me, Anima provides everything that was missing from Radioheads 2016 record 'A Moon Shaped Pool'. Anima is introduced with the first track 'Traffic' which clearly exhibits Thom Yorke's love for left-field dance music. Modulating bass synths, booming percussion and Thom's haunting vocals are an excellent debut to Anima. The album is full of dance-inspired moments with styles reminiscent to that of Floating Points and Four Tet. Thom Yorke however is happy to break the mould of contemporary dance music as the melodic and rhythmic structures are constantly fluctuating and changing. The release of Anima was accompanied by a Netflix video release in which 'Not the News', 'Traffic' and 'Dawn Chorus' are accompanied by Damien Jalet's choreography to depict a dream sequence of Thom Yorke's as he is sat on a subway train. Nigel Godrich's production is phenomenal throughout the album and the use of huge reverb, long delays and extreme vocal manipulation help to portray the dream-like, dystopian feel that Thom Yorke was trying to recreate with this work. In an interview with Crack, Yorke explains how a long period of anxiety really moulded this record. Although many of the lyrics are metaphorical and camouflaged with effects, the dark, heavy instrumentals and eerie vocals really help to depict this throughout. 'Dawn Chorus' (the beautifully stripped-bare fourth track) is essentially just Thom's vocal, a piano and a pad which equates to one of Yorke's most beautiful solo work to date. This is, however, just a portion of an incredibly produced masterpiece.
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