It’s been a while since indie-rock fans had a good scavenger hunt. On Sunday, Thom Yorke posted an enigmatic image of an unknown white LP on his Tumblr, and producer Nigel Goodrich did the same. Something is coming. The question is, what is it?
The Yorkologists of the web have come up with various theories. Here are a few of them:
There’s a new Radiohead album coming.
This could be wishful thinking, as Jonny Greenwood has said that the band would only begin work on a King of Limbs follow-up this month. But when it comes to Radiohead, no straw will go ungrasped. For weeks Yorke has been Tweeting new artwork from Stanley Donwood, who has designed every Radiohead record since The Bends, and the band did recently update their Polyfauna app. They’ve dropped an album with little warning before — would it really be that unlikely for them to try to out-Beyoncé Beyoncé?
It’s a new Atoms for Peace record.
The album art in the background resembles Donwood’s artwork for AFP’s Amok, and an eagle-eyed fan on Reddit has noted that the new “stems” on the Polyfauna app are now credited to Yorke and Goodrich, who handles keyboard and production for AFP. The same Redditor noticed that one of the songs on the Polyfauna app was “Unhappening,” which Yorke played at an Atoms for Peace DJ set in 2012. (It’s registered as a Yorke solo composition on ASCAP, but so were other AFP songs.)
It’s a new solo album.
No one else from Atoms for Peace has said anything about a new album. (The band’s bassist, Flea, has been busy Tweeting about blueberries.) Although, to be fair, it’s not like there’s light-years of difference between Atoms for Peace and Yorke’s solo material, anyway.
Whoever puts it out, the new album is going to be a released via 3-D printing.
This idea, floated by another random Redditor, is actually possible, but that doesn’t make it any less hilarious.