Thommy boy is back with his third solo album, ANIMA, using promotion from various signs all around the world promoting a corporation focusing on dreams, and recording said dreams. Sadly, it didn't go too far, and it pretty much ended with the announcement of the album. An 'anima' or 'animus' means the part of the brain that is connected and aware about the subconscious. I don't care for all that philosophical stuff so hopefully you can take your time to look it up later. After some great work earlier in the decade, with the release of Radiohead's 'A Moon Shaped Pool' and Thom himself releasing the soundtrack to the 2018 redo of Suspiria, it was only a matter of time until he would follow up with his third album. Here we are! Without any more bullshit, let's see how this goes....
1 - Traffic (10)
This track was originally performed live in 2015, as you will see with most of these tracks. It seems to have a rather dubstep influence, in the original British sense, with reverberated and space-y drums, with somewhat of a metallic FM bassline that wobbles and stretches a bunch. I like the combination, along with the very analog-esque soundscapes in the background. It's hard to make sense of what the lyrics, with Thom singing "I can't breathe" and "party[ing] with a rich zombie." However, we can tell there is something wrong, with worthy lines talking about how "crime pays in Kensington and Chelsea" which is considered the richest area in Great Britain, but also has low housing affordability, thus, crime can pay, if you're a criminal in that area. Expect to see some very vague dystopian lyrics throughout this album.
Listen for yourself: [Traffic]
(the album version is much shorter but this is the closest one I could find on youtube)
2 - Last I Heard (...He Was Circling the Drain) (8)
Originally titled 'I Woke Up', this track premiered at the ISM Exposition Hexadome in Berlin in 2018. This is a rather somber electronic ballad, but definitely being intense by using a harmonic minor scale, and the lack of drums can leave you hanging without any real sweet relief. Thom wails on about how he "woke up with a feeling [he] just could not take", paired about a line that describes "humans the size of rats." Thom says this is about a hallucination where he was jet lagged after travelling to Tokyo, and being the mysterious little man he is, he gets all sorts of visions from this. He's always talked about feeling isolated from society, and describes some of the ways he feels lost in said city. Overall, it works as a great interlude to pace you for the rest of the album.
Listen for yourself, to the old version: [Last I Heard, AKA I Woke Up]
3 - Twist (9)
In case you aren't aware, this album is a must have for fans of electronic music and IDM, and the liking. This song is probably the first one I'd recommend to the people who like such music. At a whopping 7 minutes, this song crams in abstract drum machine patterns, along with a chopped up sample of Thom repeating the title over and over. It's quite groovy once you get into it, and the second half returns the laid-back synth medley. He seems to be talking about a

relationship with someone, and that the relationship has emotionally healed him, but he still doesn't feel complete, talking about how "this face, it isn't [him]" and describing thorns growing inside him. Either some really weird transformation fetish, or just his description of an impure relationship. He sings this so swell and soothing that it's somehow extremely catchy.
Listen for yourself: [Twist]
4 - Dawn Chorus (8)
This is an interesting one, because since 2008, this song had been used by Radiohead as a backstage sound test. It's only on this album do we get to hear a complete version! This is definitely a stand-out track due to it's conveyance of notions of beginnings and endings of love, along with the immediacy, melancholia, and feelings of regret. It's very bleak, with synth layers that you'd expect from an 80's synthwave song, more along the lines of Jake Chudnow, underneath monotone, deep range vocals that just waft through the song like mist while driving on a road in the middle of winter. The song ends with a series of very high pitched synthesized whines, similar to that of birds, that of being fittingly called "Dawn Chorus".
Sadly there is no audio version on Youtube.
5 - I Am A Very Rude Person (10)
Definitely the most accessible track on this album, that is, the closest to a pop hit. I like this one the most because it's definitely soulful, groovy, and I can relate to the lyrics a lot. He sings about being forced to do something he doesn't want to do, like finding a way to escape, "tak[ing] a knife to [someone's] heart," along with the need to be rude to other people to succeed. In the end, he "break[s] the turntables" and sits and watches the party die. All of this is over a minimal electronic beat with jazzy synth lines to back it up. In the end is a distorted guitar solo with bitcrusher and plenty of delay to back it up. It's very pretty, very deep and relaxing, and overall, a great listen.
Listen for yourself: [I Am A Very Rude Person]
6 - Not the News (10)
The lead single from this album, also the most interesting, as during the promotion for the album, a person could make a call to "Anima Technologies", and they could be able to record a message after a tone, and the waiting music was the bleeping synth that drives this track.
Along with this, there are many scattered buzzing synths, and even more abstract rhythms disseminated like sand on a carpet, or "broken glass", as he sings. Thom seems to be breaking the fourth-wall with this one, as whenever he says "cue sliding violins", those violins appear as ardent little fills. Being more on the happy side of this album, the lyrics are tough to interpret. Some talk about how he's in "black treacle" which is basically a gooey molasses, and how "a fortune teller with seabird feathers cue sliding violins, in sympathy." I'm not sure what the sea bird feathers mean in this context, but since violins are usually used as a melancholy instrument, and that it's in "sympathy" seems that whatever future is mentioned, is meant to be

bleak, so bleak that the fortune teller feels sorry. No matter how you interpret the lyrics, this track for sure will have you on the dance floor.
Listen for yourself: [Not the News]
7 - The Axe (8)
This song is again, somewhat of a ballad, with gleaming 8-bit-like soundscapes in a dark minor key, with disjointed rhythms pieced together with various claps and snaps. As said on the Genius website, "Yorke appears to speak directly to the object of his disdain: a mysterious piece of technology that promised a fulfilling emotional experience and that did not deliver on it’s supposed guarantee." It can't be certain if this is an actual machine, or if this is just a metaphor for someone who he sees as cold and machine-like. Whatever this is, it's clear that this is some sort of relation that has failed, with him stating that he hasn't gotten the love he was promised, and that they "had a deal." He proposes he will take an axe to whatever this corrupt force is, and the "bastards" watch him as he does so. In the latter half of the song, he seems to be talking to those people, breaking the fourth wall yet again. He describes these audience members as having no pity, preventing him from destroying this "goddamned machinery" and compares them to toy soldiers who need to think for themselves instead of being commanded. Very bleak, very beautiful, very Radiohead.
Listen for yourself: [The Axe]
8 - Impossible Knots (9)
With the help of fellow Radiohead bandmate, Phil Selway, this song puts more emphasis on drums, with the most jazzy instrumental on this album, accompanied by deep basslines. Despite this, this song is still frantic and energetic, and it's honestly a really intriguing pairing. Probably the most straightforward lyrics are on this song, which is notable how very little there are, for also being a short song. He describes himself heading in a wrong direction, which is harmful due to whatever business he's put himself in as not being tolerant of mistakes. He is clearly in an "impossible knot" which he doesn't know how he got into and exclaims to the listener as needing anything they got, fading away with a repetitious "I'll be ready." Very ambiguous, but still very catchy.
Listen for yourself: [Impossible Knots]
9 - Runwayaway (7)
Being the last song on the album, I can certainly describe it as being a closer, like closing a book that has left you hanging. Rather than solving any of the brought up questions during this album, this track leaves it ambiguous and only leaves more questions for you to answer yourself. Originally being made for Rag & Bone runway (I hate these shows btw, the clothing designs are hideous), it was completed and polished with lyrics for this album. As said on Genius, "Lyrics from the track were texted to individuals who texted phone numbers that appeared in fliers promoting an “Anima Technologies” in the viral marketing for the album."

Thom Yorke's voice is edited to sound high-pitched, which results in a very interesting and ambiguous voice reading out phrases like "we are forever" and "This is when you know who your real friends are." This track is very spacey and monotone, almost like Monolake-styled minimal techno. This repeats over a brumous repitition of "that's when you know" sung by Thom Yorke. Not much changes through this track except for the addition of a simplistic bassline, and it slowly fades out into sub-bass. Interesting closure for a great album.
Sadly there is also no Youtube upload of this song.
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10 - BONUS TRACK: (Ladies and Gentlemen, Thank You For Coming) (9)
This song is phenomenal, and the definition of pulsating. It's also what I'd describe as an analog synth soundscape. It has very erratic chords that jump around, along with a thumping kick drum that's not too out of place on a Tiesto, or a more poppy side of Aphex Twin. It's a very interesting listen, and it's a nice inclusion on the deluxe edition vinyl for this album. Oh, and this song was originally called Two Feet off the Ground.
Listen for yourself: [Ladies and Gentlemen, Thank You For Coming]
Overall:
Total Points: 79
Total Possible Points (no bonus tracks): 90 79/90, which is a B+
In case you haven't seen any advertising of it, this album also has a visual accompaniment in the form of a short-film that is playing in IMAX Theaters, along with being on Netflix. I highly recommend you check it out. Overall, this is probably one of the most abstract, minimal, and spacey albums I've ever listened to. If you're a fan of poppy techno boiler room style music, this album is a must have. This album came out while I was in Hawaii, so I got to listen to it on my iPod while I walked around and hiked all over. It was a very beautiful experience, especially considering the island I went too was really rainy and wet. Please take this album out with you outside. Tell them Vincent said so. And while you're at it, the first two Thom Yorke solo albums are also very unique and minimal. I just wish that Thom had gone more in-depth with the promotion. I was hoping for a full-on ARG with Anima Technologies. But hey, not all questions can be answered. Can't wait to see you in the next review!