Atoms For Peace - Amok Review

By Benjamin Taylor / April 10, 2013

Release date: Monday 25th February 2013

rating: 3.5

Impromptu 'supergroup' Atoms For Peace was formed in Los Angeles towards the close of 2009, initially conceived as a vehicle to allow Radioheads Thom Yorke to play his debut solo album The Eraser in a live capacity. The group boasts a notable and eclectic collective of musical heavyweights; with Yorke (vocals, guitar and piano), Chilli Peppers bassist Flea, longtime Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich (keyboards and synths), Brazilian instrumentalist Mauro Refosco (percussion), and Joey Waronker of Beck & R.E.M (drums). The musicians convened for a 3 day studio session in L.A. during which the band sought to recreate the electronic sounds that Yorke had previously produced on his laptop, after which Yorke sliced, diced and rearranged the pieces before layering his vocals over the results.

Amok represents the evolution of Yorke's ever-expanding fascination with electronica and all-pervasive desire to break the mould by creating an album on which its impossible to discern where the organic ends and the electronic begins. Its a rich tapestry of interlaced instruments and electronic snippets, intricately entangled beneath Yorkes anxious and yearning vocals, and mixed from a brighter and more colourful palette than The Eraser. The tracks are complex and nuanced: take excellent lead single Default for example, which showcases an evolving skittering drum arrangement matched with haunting synthesisers and Yorke's soaring but melancholic vocals. Other high points include the warped, sweeping, shimmering layers of Ingénue, and the peaceful guitar melody accompanying the addictive vocal in Stuck Together Pieces.

Whilst guitars do make an appearance they are never at the forefront; Amok is more a marriage of glittering synths, shifting baselines and fragile sounding spidery guitar loops. Its not always easily listening but it is never less than fascinating: rhythms are sometimes deliberately awkward (as with excellent fourth track Dropped) and Yorke is fond of coupling slow fluid vocals with faster rhythmic patterns (Before Your Very Eyes). For the most part this is a more danceable album than its predecessor, but the songs are often still unsettling: Reverse Running places its emphasis on beats that are out of sync with the rest of the song and title track Amok, with its murky bass line and varied patters of percussion, comes across as equally portentous. Amok prioritises mood over melody and its greatest success stems from its technological innovation and genre-melding. At times it's dry but a journey though its murky and bizarre musical landscape is an ultimately rewarding listening experience that yields more with each listen. Key Tracks: 02. Default 03. Ingenue 04. Dropped 06. Stuck Together PiecesTrack Listing: 01. Before Your Very Eyes 02. Default 03. Ingenue 04. Dropped 05. Unless 06. Stuck Together Pieces 07. Judge, Jury and Executioner 08. Reverse Running 09. Amok