Our weekly column Song of the week highlights the best new songs every week. Find these new favorites and more in our Spotify best songs playlist and to see other great songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify new sounds play list. This week, Thom Yorke devastates “Knife Edge,” taken from his soundtrack for Trust.
Inside Thom Yorke there are two wolves. One of these wolves is fierce, angry and direct. This wolf wins through Yorke's furious art-punk beats (think “Electioneering,” “2+2=5,” or “You Will Never Work in Television Again”) and fast electronic beats (most of his solo catalog). The other wolf is sensitive, overcome with emotion, and perpetually on the verge of tears (I'd list examples, but we'd be here all day). For “Knife Edge,” Yorke lets that sensitive wolf go completely crazy.
Taken from the soundtrack of the new film by Daniele Luchetti. trust, “Knife Edge” is the Radiohead frontman's latest attempt at creating a song so sonically devastating that it should come with a warning. A delicate waltz that sounds like it comes from the world's most beautiful music box, Yorke drapes his signature falsetto over simple piano chords and swirling, inverted synth pads.
As if the song's sound and composition weren't moving enough, York sings from a place of pure, despondent despair. “You better not be joking / Or fooling me,” he sings, more desperate than accusatory. “This to me is life or death/ And all I think about/ If I were you, I'd run away/ Get out while you can.”
The song is the Yorke from “True Love Waits”, the Yorke from “Motion Picture Soundtrack”, the Yorke from “Dawn Chorus”. Even without its cinematic context, it cuts like, well, the edge of a knife. That is, it would be best to have a box of tissues nearby.
— Jonah Krueger
Editorial Coordinator
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