If you want, you should play the album while you read this review! Let's get started.
A Moon Shaped Pool has been in my on repeat catalog for the last few weeks, so I wanted to review the album here to talk about what makes this album so special to me. Before I even dive into the aspects of this album that I find to be mesmerizing, I must clarify that I am already a huge Radiohead fan, so I honestly find anything by them (except for The King of Limbs, sorry it's just not nearly as special as their other projects) to be some of my favorite music ever.
I found myself listening to this album while I was reading Rouge by Mona Awad—which I strongly recommend doing, as I feel that they pair beautifully together—which could very well be another reason why I found this album to be so wonderful. This is one of Radiohead's later LPs, so it kind of surprises me to see how well-received this album was. I think I will do a full track-by-track analysis of the entire album, so let's start that. I want to disclaim that I really forgot all of my music theory training, so I don't know what I'm talking about for basically all of the points I make in this post.
Burn the Witch
This opening song is a lot more fast-paced than any other song on this album, which I find to be misleading, but also fascinating. It was the first song of the album I heard before going through the entirety of A Moon Shaped Pool because I found the tempo and string pattern to really replicate that of a witch trial occurring in a small village. This sets up the album to be some kind of anxiety-inducing, high tempo, fever dream, when in reality it is only two of the three: at times extremely anxiety-ridden and feverish to the point where I found me having to take off my headphones multiple times to make sure I was still actually listening to the album.
Daydreaming
The second song of the album starts with a dreamy, almost offputting synth track that never fails to amaze me (at times I even just looped the beginning ten seconds). This easily places in my top three tracks from this album because of the intro, but also the inevitable build to the end of the track. Thom Yorke naturally has a somber tone whenever he sings, and I feel like his voice was made for a song like this. I love to hear the echoing clips of his voice throughout the track, as it further contributes to that uneasy feeling this song gives. The use of strings on this album is also perfect; it does not overpower the rest of the instruments used, but it still stands out enough for it to make a big difference.
Decks Dark
Moving into the third track, I find it to borrow a few pieces from the previous track. The use of a dreamy, muffled piano, with more of the background ethereal tremors that play throughout the song on the right side (when listening with headphones) staunchly reminds me of Daydreaming, but I feel like it was intentional to lay these two tracks back-to-back to of course point out their similarities, but to also emphasize the differences.
Desert Island Disk
I love the western-ish guitar riff that jumps the song into Yorke's serene vocals. I always love to hear an ambient synth in songs and of course, this song does just that. Honestly, I am always a sucker for impressive string work on a guitar so maybe that's why I find myself loving this song so much. On top of the guitar work, this song has a nice cymbal-heavy drum pattern that compliments the other instruments well.
Ful Stop
This is probably the second fastest-tempo song on the album. It opens with a muffled bass loop that sounds like it could be in a car chase for a movie but swiftly changes into something a lot more ethereal with the layered synths that merge in within the minute mark. The drums seem to borrow lightly from a drum and bass style (which is also something I love deeply) that once again, just seems to make sense for the song's vibe. I have come to realize that Radiohead is really good at figuring out "what makes sense" in all of their songs, but truly I don't know how to describe it besides that. Even when the drums roll in completely, it's not overwhelming. Along with the drums, Yorke uses more of an airy, pitchy voice for the remainder of the song. Because of course, he does, because it makes sense.
Glass Eyes
Oh my god, the beginning of this song is so beautiful. Seriously, I feel like I just died and I am floating in a pool of the calmest, most serene water with overgrown plant life flowing out of it, but I am perfectly draped in white silk, as this song plays on loop. Maybe it's a bit of an exaggeration, sure, but you might feel the same if you listened to this song. Once again, I have to mention the perfection of the strings, especially on this track. Yorke's voice effortlessly fits with the strings as well. I also find this song to correlate strongly to Yorke's personal life involving his divorce from his first wife, as the overwhelming sadness of this song seems to be that of a person who loves someone they can no longer have.
Identikit
The first time I listened to this song, I thought of it as the most unmemorable on the album. Now that I listen to it again and again, it's hard for me to say that about any song, but especially this one. I think I initially felt this way because I was so entranced with Glass Eyes that any song that followed it would have disappointed me at least a little. I enjoyed the end the most with the harmonizing guitar solos, and I always love a drum beat that uses the rim of the drum rather than the actual snare.
The Numbers
I feel like this song is a classic Radiohead song. If someone asked me to pick three songs that sum up Radiohead's general vibe, I would probably pick this song as one of my options. A coherent, classic sound, mixed with a few electronic, dreamlike pieces that fit perfectly with that classic sound. It's good, but not my favorite on the album. I must say that I love the big build-up at the end of the song, followed by scattered, heavenly chords played on the piano.
Present Tense
I liked this song, but once again I did not find myself overly obsessed with it the way I was for some of the other songs on this album. I feel bad because I don't have that much to say about this one, but I don't want to write unnecessary things. Let's move on.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief
Yeah, okay the name is long. Whatever. I am going to fuck up a somber, keyboard progression every time. So of course I love this song. I feel like this song perfectly rounds up what it's like to be in your room when you know everyone else is out, and you know you're missing out on a lot of stuff, but for some reason, you don't do anything about it. There is that pang of anxiety written into this song that you can't seem to forget about when you listen to it, but it's not like it's annoying. It's actually really comforting. Also, I love a string descent into madness, which is what happens at the end of this song. It really is fabulous.
True Love Waits
A perfect roundup song for this album. Incredibly somber, dark, moody, whatever you want to call it because you can use all of these words to describe it. I feel like the little piano chords played are like a glimmer of hope to salvage an already failing relationship, that most people are afraid to let go of even though they know they should. I've never once had this happen to me in real life, but because of this song, I know exactly what it is going to sound like when it happens eventually. This is also a perfect song to listen to when you watch the rain fall outside since the glimmering hope of the piano chords can easily be replaced by the pitter-patter of raindrops you hear from your window.
With that, we have reached the end of this album. I really would love to keep doing this with other albums, so that's what I'm gonna do! Thanks for reading if you did, until next time.
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