Radiohead to release new material in “next couple of years”

The latest update by drummer Philip Selway suggests there's still a long wait for fans

Radiohead‘s drummer Philip Selway has said that the band will release new material “of some sort” in the “next couple of years”.

In January, Selway said that he and his bandmates would be meeting up early this year to start putting things in motion. “We’re going to get together at the start of [2023], and I’m sure we’re going to start looking at other ideas for what comes next,” he said.

Now, the drummer has told Prog Magazine [via MusicNews]: “We’re always talking about stuff. But in terms of an actual kind of collective project, beyond the ‘Kid A’ and ‘Amnesiac’ stuff that we’ve been doing [2021’s ‘Kid Amnesia’ reissue project and interactive exhibition], it’s kind of further down the line for us when that will happen. We’re talking about that, but at the moment everybody’s doing their own thing.

Advertisement

“When the pandemic happened, we’d always planned to take a veer off from Radiohead around that, so we could get on with other stuff. But that just meant that those other projects kind of grew, so we’re allowing time for all of those projects to go where they need to. But yeah, we’ll get together soon and in the next couple of years there will be something there, of some sort.”

Philip Selway. CREDIT: Phil Sharp.

Speaking to NME earlier this year about the current status of Radiohead, Selway said: “We have got together and we’re talking about future plans, but in the immediate future we’ve all got other projects which we’d all like to see through properly. There’s a collective desire to make music in some form or other amongst the five of us. We all really value that musical relationship, and that’s been there for 38 years. It remains really important to us.”

Does Selway have any ideas or desires on what direction Radiohead might take next?

“We wouldn’t know anything on that score until we’re all in a room together, and it probably doesn’t have any firm direction until we’re quite a way into it,” the drummer replied. “The short answer to that is: ‘to be confirmed’.

“It’s just about finding that scenario when a group of musicians are all of a mind and firing on all cylinders. That is my dream scenario – to be in that spot. That’s my only aspiration.”

Advertisement

Radiohead. Credit: Getty

Radiohead’s last album was 2016’s ‘A Moon Shaped Pool‘.

Elsewhere, the drummer, who recently released his second solo album under his own name, ‘Strange Dance’, revealed that he’s already working on its follow-up.

Asked if the next record is taking shape, he said: “It is, actually. You get to the end of one project and can’t see beyond that for a little while, but it’s led by the ideas that you’ve got coming as well. To do a solo record you need songs and they are starting to happen a bit more now. So yeah, I would love to.

“When I first started doing the solo stuff, I was just thinking of it as a trilogy of records and didn’t really project beyond that.

“I certainly didn’t think I’d end up doing soundtrack work or any of the other stuff. And in some ways, I guess ‘Strange Dance’ feels as though it’s completing that initial cycle. And it feels wonderful to be at that point.”

Phil Selway and Thom Yorke of Radiohead (Photo by Andy Sheppard/Redferns via Getty Images)
:Phil Selway and Thom Yorke of Radiohead (Photo by Andy Sheppard/Redferns via Getty Images)

Last summer, Radiohead guitarist Ed O’Brien discussed the band’s future, saying: “It might happen, but the other thing is… it might not. And does that matter?

“There’s no Radiohead at the moment,” he added. “There’s a truth to what we do, so we’re not going to be one of those bands that gets together for the big payday.”

In other news, a mash-up of tracks by Ice SpicePinkPantheress and Radiohead recently went viral after being shared on Twitter. Radiohead fans were also recently delighted by someone recreating the band’s seminal ‘In Rainbows’ with sounds from Super Mario 64.

You May Also Like

Advertisement

TRENDING

Advertisement

More Stories