Thom Yorke talks new solo music, Radiohead’s future and streaming-era industry rot

Thom Yorke’s latest comments remain a strong 26 May alternative and indie-adjacent news item, especially for readers tracking Radiohead, The Smile and the wider economy of independent music. Speaking around his Ivor Novello Awards recognition, Yorke revealed that he is trying to finish a new solo album made with Sam Petts-Davies, the producer and engineer connected to his recent work with The Smile. He described the process as different for him and mentioned a song called Arse-Kissers, which is a very Thom Yorke title: funny, irritated and probably not destined for a children’s birthday playlist.

The bigger story is his criticism of the music industry and streaming platforms. Yorke used the moment to attack opaque accounting, lip service to new music and the devaluing of future generations of artists. For an indie music digest, that matters because the crisis he describes is not abstract. It affects exactly the kinds of artists who fill these daily roundups: small bands, experimental writers, independent producers and musicians trying to build something sustainable without a giant catalogue behind them.

Yorke also spoke about Radiohead’s recent comeback tour and hinted that more live activity could happen in future. So this is both fan news and structural music-industry news: one of alternative music’s most important figures saying the old system is still squeezing new artists dry. Source: https://stereogum.com/2499956/thom-yorke-talks-new-solo-album-next-radiohead-tour-music-industry-arseholes/news