A moon shaped pool

Several tracks from A Moon Shaped Pool were recorded some time before the recording of the album itself began. True Love Waits ( Rus. True Love is Waiting ) was first created around 1995, and a live version of the track was released in 2001 on I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings . The group tried to finish the song “an infinite” number of times, working on it during the recording sessions of OK Computer , Kid A and Amnesiac in 1996-2000, but could not agree on an arrangement that would suit all musicians. By analogy, Radiohead worked on “Burn the Witch” ( Russian Burn Witch ) during the recording of three albums: Kid A , Hail to the Thief in 2002 and In Rainbows in 2007, and the lyrics of this song were partially written during creating decoration for Hail to the Thief , which also allowed her to appear on the band's official website. Record "Present Tense" ( Russian. Present ) dates back to 2008. She was first performed by York at the Latitude Festival in 2009 during a musician solo concert.

During a tour in support of the previous album - The King of Limbs in 2012, the group performed several new songs, including “Identikit” ( Russian Photobot ) and “Ful Stop” ( Russian Point ). Then, a certain version of Identikit was already recorded, as well as another unidentified song in Jack White's Third Man Records studio .

In 2013, after the end of the tour, some members of the group took up their side projects. In 2014, Tom York and drummer Phil Selway released their respective second solo albums , Tomorrow's Modern Boxes and Weatherhouse, and guitarist Johnny Greenwood recorded the next soundtrack for Paul Anderson's film. In 2015, in connection with the collaboration of Greenwood and the Indian composer Shai Ben Tsur, a documentary film “Junun” ( Rus. Junoon ) was released on the creation of the eponymous music album. Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich and director Paul Thomas Anderson also took part in making the film ^{[15] [16]} .

Radiohead and Nigel Godrich began work on the album in September 2014. Sessions continued until Christmas of that year and were resumed in March 2015. In June, Johnny Greenwood said that the group had been recovering for a very long time, "feeling for the pulse" after a long pause.

Using software created by Greenwood to work on The King of Limbs , the group decided to temporarily record A Moon Shaped Pool on tape with an analogue of multi-track recording . This added creative limits to the process, meaning the group had to literally “erase” previous duplicate records to create new ones. For example, to record the song “Daydreaming” ( Russian Dreaming ), the group had to slow down the tape to create a curved effect of the main tone ( English Wow effect ), which can be seen at the very beginning of the track. Radiohead has again used digital manipulation on many tracks. Greenwood used the programming language “Max” ^[17] (as when recording Hail to the Thief in 2002) to manipulate the piano in the song “Glass Eyes” ( Russian Glass Eyes ). Drummer Clive Dimmer, who performed with the band during The King Of Limbs, participated in the recording of “Ful Stop”, performing an additional drum part ^[18] . Greenwood estimated that 80% of the album was recorded in one to two weeks ^[19] .

In November 2015, composer Robert Ziegler, who previously worked with the group, posted on his twitter photographs on which the band members were captured along with a string orchestra . ^[20] The string and choir sections were organized by Greenwood and performed by the London Contemporary Orchestra with conductor Hugh Brant ^[21] ; the orchestra had previously collaborated with Johnny when he recorded the soundtrack for The Master , directed by Paul Anderson in 2012. ^[22] String parts were written in the London RAK Studios ^[23] . Cellist of the orchestra Oliver Coates said:

“Nigel, Johnny and Tom - everyone has an amazing relationship with each other, and everyone was very excited at work. I remember how we recorded the cello part at the end of “Daydreaming” and Tom said: “Here it is - the sound of our entire recording!” ” ^[24]

Greenwood wanted the cellists to deliberately upset their instruments for recording a song, thereby creating a "growling" sound. Additional string parts of the orchestra were also recorded for the album, but they were soon cut from the final version.

In December 2015, at a UN Paris conference on climate change, Tom York performed three new songs with A Moon Shaped Pool ^[25] : “The Numbers” ( Russian Numbers ), “Present Tense” and “Desert Island Disk” ( Russian Disc of an uninhabited island ). On Christmas Day, Radiohead released the song "Specter" ( Russian. Ghost ), posting it on the SoundCloud audio streaming site. It was written for a new James Bond film ^[26] , but, according to Johnny Greenwood, was rejected by the producers, who described it as “too dark” ^[27] .

A Moon Shaped Pool has been described as art rock ^{[28] [29]} . The album combines electronic elements such as drum machines and synthesizers with acoustic tones of guitars, pianos, string orchestra and choir , convened by Johnny Greenwood. Reviewer Jeremy Larson of Pitchfork Media wrote in one of his articles: “While lightweight orchestrations are not new to the group, A Moon Shaped Pool brings them to the forefront of songwriting, and Greenwood’s arrangements make it even more heavier compared to their other albums ” ^[30] .

Most lyrics written by Tom York discuss topics such as love, forgiveness, and regret, according to Larson, "with the tectonic bitterness of a little admission that is kind of beautiful if you don't take it too sad." Some critics felt that the lyrics were colored by the theme of York's divorce from her partner after twenty-five years of marriage, noting that the masked vocals at the end of Daydreaming in the opposite direction resemble the words “half of my life” . ), which also emphasizes the fact that the age of York is almost fifty years ^{[31] [32] [33]} .

The album’s artwork was once again taken up by British artist Stanley Donwood , who has been working with the group since 1994. This time he worked in a barn with speakers connected to a studio located nearby and where the group was recording an album ^[34] . As a promotion to A Moon Shaped Pool , Donwood released a special brochure entitled “How to Create Your Own Moon Shape Pool Design. 66 Simple Steps ” ^[35] , inspired by her experience creating album art. The brochure also indicated: “Let the wind and weather move the colors around you” ^[36] .

All songs were written by Radiohead, produced by Radiohead and Nigel Godrich.

Radiohead

• Colin Greenwood - Bass
• Johnny Greenwood - guitar , piano , string arrangements
• Ed O'Brien - Guitar
• Phil Selway - drums
• Tom York - vocals , guitar , piano , keyboards

Additional staff

• Nigel Godrich - producer
• Stanley Donwood - Decoration
• Sam Pitts-Davids - Engineering
• Hugh Brant - Conductor
• Clive Drimmer - Additional Percussion
• London Contemporary Orchestra and Choir - strings, choir
• Bob Ludwig - Mastering

• Official album site
• Official site of the band Radiohead