Thom Yorke
Confidenza
SPIN 91点
https://www.spin.com/2024/04/thom-yorke-confidenza-review/
Working with producer Sam Petts-Davies, the London Contemporary Orchestra, and conductor Hugh Brunt, Yorke constructed Confidenza as an absorbing front-to-back album—an assessment you couldn’t quite dole out to the overlong Suspiria, which, outside of a few transcendent vocal tracks, feels inextricably linked to Luca Guadagnino’s surreal horror visuals. Even without seeing Confidenza the film, directed by Daniele Luchetti, you’re good: 12 tracks, 36 minutes, a satisfying musical arc.
The vocal pieces, naturally, raise the immediate goosebumps. On “Four Ways in Time,” Yorke flutters in octaves over trembling strings and the muted, punctuated thump of Smile drummer Tom Skinner. “Knife Edge” is pleasingly hissy and off-the-grid—an imagined lullaby warped by memory, with Yorke cooing in tandem with chiming keys that conjure a music box in a dusty, boarded-up attic. But even the segues add to the vibe: “Letting Down Gently” is like ECM via Spirit of Eden, breathy saxophones conversing over probing double-bass. It’s over in a minute, almost a tease—but just like Yorke, it’s suited to stretch out endlessly. – GRADE: A-