"If You Say the Word" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Radiohead | ||||
from the album Kid A Mnesia | ||||
Released | 7 September 2021 | |||
Recorded | January 1999 – April 2000 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 4:22 | |||
Label | XL | |||
Songwriter(s) | Radiohead | |||
Producer(s) |
| |||
Radiohead singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Music video | ||||
"If You Say the Word" on YouTube |
"If You Say the Word" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 7 September 2021 as the first single from the compilation Kid A Mnesia . [1] It was recorded during the joint sessions for Radiohead's albums Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001), but remained unreleased until 2021. [2]
"If You Say the Word" features "delicate" fingerpicking, a "foreboding groove", "chiming" percussion and ondes Martenot. [1]
Radiohead released a video for "If You Say the Word" on 23 September 2021. [3] It was directed by Kasper Häggström and features a crew capturing businessmen from nature and taking them to work in London. [4] [5] [6] Spin likened the video to the science fiction series Black Mirror . [7] The video won "Best Alternative Video" at the 2022 UK Music Video Awards. [8]
Writing for Pitchfork , Marc Hogan described "If You Say the Word" as "lush and elegant". He observed that the lyrics seem both loving and threatening, and wrote that it "doesn't immediately stand out as fodder for a Radiohead best-of playlist, it's still of such strikingly high quality that it's surprising it hasn't surfaced before now". [1] Contact Music described it as a "typically melancholy ambient number" in line with other material from Kid A and Amnesiac. [9]
Additional personnel
Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. They comprise Thom Yorke ; brothers Jonny Greenwood and Colin Greenwood (bass); Ed O'Brien ; and Philip Selway. They have worked with the producer Nigel Godrich and the cover artist Stanley Donwood since 1994. Radiohead's experimental approach is credited with advancing the sound of alternative rock.
Kid A is the fourth studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 2 October 2000 by Parlophone. It was recorded with their producer, Nigel Godrich, in Paris, Copenhagen, Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire.
Amnesiac is the fifth studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 30 May 2001 by EMI. It was recorded with the producer Nigel Godrich in the same sessions as Radiohead's previous album Kid A (2000). Radiohead split the work in two as they felt it was too dense for a double album. As with Kid A, Amnesiac incorporates influences from electronic music, 20th-century classical music, jazz and krautrock. The final track, "Life in a Glasshouse", is a collaboration with the jazz trumpeter Humphrey Lyttelton and his band.
Hail to the Thief is the sixth studio album by the English rock band Radiohead. It was released on 9 June 2003 through Parlophone internationally and a day later through Capitol Records in the United States. It was the last album released under Radiohead's record contract with EMI, the parent company of Parlophone and Capitol.
I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings is a live album by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 12 November 2001 in the UK by Parlophone and a day later in the US by Capitol Records.
Thomas Edward Yorke is an English musician who is the main vocalist and songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. A multi-instrumentalist, he mainly plays guitar and keyboards and is noted for his falsetto. Rolling Stone described Yorke as one of the greatest and most influential singers of his generation.
"Knives Out" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, released as the second single from their fifth album, Amnesiac (2001). It features lyrics about cannibalism and guitars influenced by the Smiths. "Knives Out" received positive reviews and reached number 13 on the UK Singles Chart and number one on the Canadian Singles Chart. The music video was directed by Michel Gondry.
"Follow Me Around" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 1 November 2021 as the second single from their compilation album Kid A Mnesia. It features the singer, Thom Yorke, on acoustic guitar, with lyrics expressing paranoia and dread.
The English rock band Radiohead have released nine studio albums, one live album, five compilation albums, one remix album, nine video albums, seven EPs, 32 singles, and 48 music videos. Their debut album, Pablo Honey, released in February 1993, reached number 22 in the UK, receiving platinum certifications in the UK and US. Their debut single, "Creep", remains their most successful, entering the top 10 in several countries. Their second album, The Bends, released in March 1995, reached number four in the UK and is certified triple platinum.
"Pyramid Song" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, released as the lead single from their fifth studio album, Amnesiac (2001), in May 2001. It features piano, strings, an unusual "shuffling" rhythm and lyrics inspired by the Egyptian underworld.
"Lift" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, released in 2017. It was first performed in 1996; bootleg recordings were widely circulated, and it became a fan favourite. Radiohead recorded versions of "Lift" during the sessions for their third album, OK Computer (1997), but abandoned it. Members of Radiohead said they had felt pressured by its commercial potential, and that it did not represent what they wanted to say at the time.
"I Promise" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, released in 2017. Radiohead performed it on their 1996 tour, and recorded it during the sessions for their third album, OK Computer (1997), but felt it was not strong enough to release. In June 2017, "I Promise" was included on the OK Computer reissue OKNOTOK 1997 2017 and released as a download with a music video.
"Optimistic" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead from their fourth studio album, Kid A (2000). It was produced by Radiohead with their producer, Nigel Godrich, and was released as a promotional single in the US and Europe, receiving radio play.
"True Love Waits" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead. Radiohead worked on it for over two decades before releasing it on their ninth album, A Moon Shaped Pool (2016).
"Burn the Witch" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, released as the lead single from their ninth studio album, A Moon Shaped Pool (2016). It features a string section playing with guitar plectrums, producing a percussive sound. Radiohead first worked on the song during the sessions for their fourth album, Kid A (2000), and developed it for over a decade.
OK Computer OKNOTOK 1997 2017 is a reissue of the 1997 album OK Computer by the English rock band Radiohead. It was released in June 2017, the album's 20th anniversary, following the 2016 acquisition of Radiohead's back catalogue by XL Recordings from EMI.
"Man of War" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 22 June 2017 on the compilation OK Computer OKNOTOK 1997 2017.
The Smile are an English rock band comprising the Radiohead members Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood with Tom Skinner (drums). Critics likened them to Radiohead, with more jazz, krautrock and progressive rock influences and a looser, wilder sound.
Kid A Mnesia is a reissue compiling the albums Kid A (2000) and Amnesiac (2001) by the English rock band Radiohead. It also includes a bonus disc, Kid Amnesiae, comprising previously unreleased material. It was released on 5 November 2021 on XL Recordings.