speed of dark

I did not know until recently that Thom Yorke even had a brother, much less that said brother was also a musician. Andy Yorke, younger brother of Radiohead's Thom, releases his first solo album to the U.S. today, published on his own label, Aktiv Records. He formerly was lead singer and guitarist for the band Unbelievable Truth, which formed in Oxford, also hometown to Radiohead, in 1993 and which he left in 2000 for a solo career.

While Andy's voice, especially the slight waver in "Ode To a Friend," and appearance do resemble Thom's, the younger Yorke is not as musically iconoclastic or experimental as his more famous big brother. Andy's style, like the title of the album, Simple, is pleasant, uncomplicated, and not pushing any envelopes. "Let It Be True" actually reminds me more of last year's solo album by Roddy Woomble (lead singer of Scotland's Idlewild) than anything Thom Yorke has done in the past decade. The somber cello and lack of drums on some tracks emphasize this differences. Other tracks have a faint resemblance to "Fake Plastic Trees."

Setting aside the temptation to compare, in my opinion Simple is actually a pretty good album in its own quiet way and definitely worth a listen. In fact, it might just grow on you--it has on me.

COPYRIGHTED CONTENT HAS BEEN REMOVED

From Simple (2008)
Ode To a Friend
Mathilda

MySpace | Website | Label: Aktiv Records
Buy at Andy York's Store, Amazon.com