Radiohead - Nude

XL

Not only one of the standout songs from ‘In Rainbows’, but also one of the standout songs from Radiohead’s entire canon, ‘Nude’ is a faultless example of what the band do best: soaring, angelic vocals, jittering rhythms and edgy paranoia. A mythological “lost” track, the song was written a decade ago but was derailed when the band couldn’t agree on an appropriate bass part, and finally surfaced on last year’s superlative download album.

‘Nude’ is a luminescent catherine wheel of sound; it swirls and shimmies and morphs like a glass ballerina. Listening to it is like swallowing an ice cube for breakfast, feeling it freeze you from your neck all the way down to your stomach. Better still, it’s backed by ‘4 Minute Warning’ and ‘Down Is The New Up’, only previously available on the extortionate ‘In Rainbows’ discbox, each of which outranks any other song released within recent months by a country mile.

Eating pizza and kissing girls aside, there are not many more enjoyable ways of spending your time. And the bass part is amazing. Ross Thompson

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