Witnessing the creative trajectory of legendary frontman Thom Yorke is nothing short of extraordinary. From his groundbreaking work with Radiohead to the modern marvels he’s creating with The Smile, the man’s tireless creativity can’t help but explode out the top of his head and directly into our ears. So, what’s a man who has already achieved so much to do next? Yorke’s response is to team up with a fellow untethered artist, Mark Pritchard, for a full-length album of electronic, complex balladry. After initially collaborating in 2016 on Pritchard’s Under The Sun LP, the duo has come together for Tall Tales, their official debut as a duo. Along with visual artist Jonathan Zawada, who tied the two worlds together with some impressive music videos for the album, Yorke and Pritchard release their collaborative debut on May 9, but how will their individual veteran statuses blend across the expansive 12-song LP?
The answer lies somewhere within the complex chemistry displayed on Tall Tales. This is not a Yorke album produced by Pritchard, and it is far from a collection of Pritchard productions that Yorke stepped in and crooned over. These twelve songs are a testament to ego-less collaboration. Rather than take bits and pieces of each other and glue them together, Tall Tales finds the duo creating an entirely new structure, one of statuesque proportions that juts out randomly yet always maintains a soft edge. Never for a moment does it feel like one artist is taking the spotlight; instead, these songs dip into moments of Yorke balladry and seamlessly transition into Pritchard’s gentle electronic bliss.
Tall Tales is brimming with consistently atmospheric ambiance that gives the album its stubborn consistency. This is an album meant to be listened to in full in order to be truly experienced, with each track transitioning into the next in a dense haze of simplicity. There is a shocking lack of bells or whistles for an electronic album filled with subtle experimentation. Tall Tales is straightforward in its approach, yet abstract in its execution and intricacies. Yorke’s vocals beautifully lay upon Pritchard’s minimalism, but that same minimalism and consistency force the album to lose its dexterity. While bouncy moments like “Gangster” give the tracklist a touch of funk, and each song contains a colorful array of ups and downs, the way the album progresses could’ve used more diverse dynamics to emphasize the nuanced highlights of Tall Tales.
Those highlights, though, are incredible snapshots of natural collaborative energy. Moments like “The Spirit” and “Bugging Out Again” showcase Yorke’s falsettos in a way we haven’t heard from the veteran singer, and it’s thanks to Pritchard’s nimble production. Pritchard’s alien-like production only becomes more mysterious and eerie with the addition of Yorke’s haunting vocals, creating an atmosphere of risky sonic maneuvers and welcoming, cloud-like textures. Pritchard truly shines on songs like the title track and “Ice Shelf,” two stand-out songs from Tall Tales that allow the producer’s musical collages to employ some welcomed psychedelia.
While the album may lean on ambiance to a fault, it is a rare miss on Pritchard and Yorke’s Tall Tales. These twelve songs challenge the two artists to shed their accomplishments and start from scratch, forcing the duo to reevaluate themselves and create something new. The results are lofty sonic visions stretched to their furthest reaches and whittled down to their purest essence, leaving Yorke and Pritchard with 12 spellbinding tracks that leave an intoxicating impression.
