Mark Pritchard & Thom Yorke – ‘Tall Tales’ album review: A dreamscape of unexpected obscurrities
THE SKINNY: There’s something inexplicably translucent about music labelled as “experimental”. While some may be put off by the inaccessibility of such off-kilter sounds and structures, it can often feel like a delicate journey into a realm filled with obscurrities, the ones that feel and look familiar but offer distinctly indescribable weightlessness. Throughout Thom Yorke and Mark Pritchard’s Tall Tales, the shapes frequently shift into unexpected forms, to varying degrees of captivation.
The overriding features of experimental music are often the same traits valued in the world of art and artistic intention, and, when done right, can infiltrate the mind in endearing ways, even for someone whose usual habits don’t crossover into such genres. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the best parts of Tall Tales are when these qualities merge with Yorke’s indie sensibilities, and, when the songs venture too far into one without the other, they become more akin to formless entities, scrambling for attention when the potential is wholeheartedly there.
That said, when it’s there, it’s there. Songs like ‘Back in the Game’, ‘The Spirit’, and ‘The Men Who Dance in Stag’s Heads’ exercise this balance perfectly, evoking associations with familiar places while maintaining Pritchard’s signature edge. This grittiness leads seamlessly into artistic authenticity, allowing the other, more accessible components to brim with substance and charm, like the strangely grounding experience of being half awake, half asleep.
Whether it’s liked or not, Tall Tales beckons to be heard, not just in the literal sense but in the ways we absorb music, even when it doesn’t necessarily feel like it’s for us. When we encounter moments that feel too far into the ether to grip onto, these are the ones that challenge preconception, leading us to wonder whether we should re-assess what it means to be innovative and creative, even without much else to hold onto when the final notes fade away.
For fans of: Whatever the opposite of Radiohead is.
A concluding comment from a Radiohead fan: “Not what I expected.”
Tall Tales track by track:
Release date: May 9th | Producer: Mark Pritchard | Label: Warp
‘A Fake in a Faker’s World’: There are countless twists and turns in this eye-opening starter, signalling a more purposeful path into experimentation and the limitations of emotional storytelling in music. It’s a little wayward, which makes it sometimes difficult to tell whether it’s executed with as much grace as needed to pull you in wholeheartedly. [2.5/5]
‘Ice Shelf’: Those darker hues strengthen throughout the second track, with ambient notes and visceral atmospheres that take you on a journey through floaty self-discovery, with the kind of unsettling aura that feels a bit like a song played backwards. [3/5]
‘Bugging Out Again’: Another delicate foray into haunting soundscapes, ‘Bugging Out Again’ charges with a steady beat, unexpectedly unsettling in its consistency as it constantly keeps you feeling on the brink of something deeper that never truly arrives. [2.5/5]
‘Back in the Game’: Evoking a more theatrical charm, ‘Back in the Game’ leans more purposefully into Yorke’s realm, passing over into those familiar indie structures and melodies in an effortless way that feels entirely satisfying. [3.5/5]
‘The White Cliffs’: This gorgeously executed slow build feels like a natural fall into somewhere unfamiliar yet cathartic, like a considered walk without a plan, where the surrounding environment feels distorted by fog, even though your head remains clear. [3.5/5]
‘The Spirit’: What’s perhaps the most exciting aspect of the record is that it’s full of surprises. Despite the darkness of the previous tracks, ‘The Spirit’ feels inexplicably uplifting, stripped back in its simplicity and captivating in its directness. [3/5]
‘Gangsters’: Although the beat almost feels engaging enough to keep your attention, there isn’t much else worthy of note in this track, making it fall a little flat. [2.5/5]
‘This Conversation Is Missing Your Voice’: A more grounded track with several components at play, this feels like the anchor that pulls everything together, with just the right amount of both musicians’ capabilities to give it depth and style. [3.5/5]
‘Tall Tales’: A more intensified playground of musical exploration, ‘Tall Tales’ serves up the pinnacle of the record’s experimentalism in a way that feels confusingly disorienting. [2/5]
‘Happy Days’: As the album comes to a close, ‘Happy Days’ offers a strange balance of delicacy and grit, driving towards a more inexplicably unsettling charge. [2.5/5]
‘The Men Who Dance in Stag’s Heads’: A track that feels somewhere distinctly between a daydream and a reckoning, ‘The Men Who Dance in Stag’s Heads’ feels like a gentle sway of quiet contemplation and a definitive tail-end to a record that wants to say everything all at once. [3/5]
‘Wandering Genie’: A track akin to the credits at the end of a movie, ‘Wandering Genie’ washes over you like a gentle breeze. [2.5/5]
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out New Music Newsletter
All the latest New Music from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.