Ill Wind (Radiohead song)

Last updated
"Ill Wind"
Ill Wind (Radiohead song).jpg
Promotional single by Radiohead
from the album A Moon Shaped Pool (Special Edition)
Released11 January 2019 (2019-01-11) [1]
Genre Bossa nova
Length4:14
Label XL
Songwriter(s) Radiohead
Producer(s) Nigel Godrich

"Ill Wind" is a song by the English rock band Radiohead, initially released a bonus track on the deluxe edition of their 2016 album A Moon Shaped Pool , [2] but was later released as a promotional single.

Contents

Background

Radiohead had been working on the track since 2008, originally under the title "The North Wind". [3]

Composition and lyrics

"Ill Wind" is a bossa nova [2] [4] [5] track with lyrics talking about being cool [5] and isolation from counseling as well as fear attachment from "ill wind" according to the New York Times. [6]

Reception

Author Dan Caffery notes that it "starts out with the warmth of Radiohead's seventh album, but quickly gets overtaken by chilly, synthesized arpeggios" while noting that it included the "ultimate mechanism that would have made it stick out like a sore thumb had it been included on A Moon Shaped Pool". [4] Stereogum critic Peter Helman called it a "bossanova-esque groove that eventually transitions into an icy synth exercise, with Yorke's inimitable falsetto presiding over the whole thing". [7] NME critic Larry Bartleet states that it "swirls into an almost overwhelming mass of harmonious sound – the kind of spacey stuff that makes you start pondering higher powers" and that it "it’s chock-full of very synthy synths". [8] DIY magazine called it a "gloomy but spacious recording". [9]

Charts

Chart (2019)Peak
position
France Charts (ACharts) [10] 40
UK Singles Sales Charts (OCC) [11] 50
US Digital Song Sales (Billboard) [12] 9

References

  1. ↑ Yoo, Noah; Monroe, Jazz (11 January 2019). "Radiohead Rarity "Ill Wind" Is Now Streaming: Listen". Pitchfork . Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  2. 1 2 Kreps, Daniel (30 September 2016). "Hear Radiohead's Icy 'Moon Shaped' Bonus Cut 'Ill Wind'" . Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 25 September 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  3. ↑ "Ill Wind". citizeninsane.eu. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  4. 1 2 Caffrey, Dan (15 March 2021). Radiohead FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the World's Most Famous Cult Band. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC. p. 245. ISBN   978-1-4930-5397-1.
  5. 1 2 Hogan, Marc (28 March 2019). "I Might Be Wrong: Every Radiohead Song, Ranked". Vulture. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  6. ↑ Pareles, Jon; Caramanica, Jon; Ganz, Caryn; Russonello, Giovanni (11 January 2019). "The Playlist: Radiohead's Glooming, and 13 More New Songs" . The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  7. ↑ Helman, Peter (29 September 2016). "Radiohead – 'Ill Wind'". Stereogum . Archived from the original on 29 December 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  8. ↑ Bartleet, Larry (30 September 2016). "Radiohead's 'Ill Wind' Is A Treat, But They Were Right To Cut It From 'A Moon Shaped Pool' – Track Review". NME. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  9. ↑ "New Radiohead song 'Ill Wind' appears online". DIY. 30 September 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  10. ↑ "Ill Wind by Radiohead - Music Charts". acharts.co. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  11. ↑ "Official Singles Sales Chart 17 January 2019 - 23 January 2019". Official Charts. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  12. ↑ "Radiohead Chart History (Rock Digital Song Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved 2 July 2025.