Radiohead have gone into the studio together for the first time in almost two years to start work recording their new album.
The band are ensconced at a secret location in Paris and are currently rehearsing songs they have been writing since they finished ‘OK Computer’, which came out in June 1997.
They followed that album with a major world tour during which, as was reported at the time, they wrote a clutch of new songs using a portable studio.
A band spokesperson said that a new album would probably be released before the end of the year, although the band were not having any pressure exerted on them to complete it.
She said: “They earned themselves a really good rest last year, but now they are in full swing. Once they’ve got their heads down they just want to get on with it and that’s why they’re in France, to get away from it all. As for releases, nothing’s set in stone.”
A lot of songs were written but left off ‘OK Computer’ as singer Thom Yorke insisted they were “too commercial”; these may now be considered for inclusion on the new album. Some of the songs were used for the band’s soundchecks while others were debuted live.
The spokesperson added that it was too early to say which producer the band hoped to work with, although it is possible that Nigel Godrich, who worked on ‘OK Computer’, will be available, as he’s just finished producing Pavement‘s new album, due out in June. As reported last week, the Nigel Godrich link meant that Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood ended up playing harmonica on a couple of tracks on the Pavement album.