03-08: Looks like we’ve confirmed our suspicions (and so has the NME): this was a hoax. Sorry if we got any of your hopes up. Like we said, don’t trust anyone on the internet!
03-07: Due to popular demand, we’ve posted the full email here. To decode the string, we converted the binary code to ASCII. The result looked like gibberish until we bumped down each letter (e.g. ‘b’ turned to ‘a,’ etc.), which resulted in the tracklist that we posted. Again, be suspicious — we ain’t believing it until we hear more from Radiohead’s camp!
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In December 2009, guitarist Ed O’Brien, the most beautiful man ever to walk on earth, informed fans that Radiohead was set to return to the studio in January to record a new album. He seemed, for lack of a worse pun, “optimistic.”
The vibe in the camp is fantastic at present, and we head off into the studio in January to continue on from the work we started last summer…10 years ago we were all collectively (that’s the band) in the land of Kid A .. and although hugely proud of that record, it wasn’t a fun place to be…What’s reassuring now, is that we are most definitely a different band, which should therefore mean that the music is different too and that is the aim of the game.
After rumors last month that the album was already completed, we’ve been keeping our eyes and ears open for clues, with a staff of 50 working around the clock, refreshing websites and putting wiretaps on W.A.S.T.E. phones. Our budget nearly ran out.
But this morning, TMT woke up to a (literally) cryptic email from what appeared to be an official W.A.S.T.E. email address. Its subject line was “Radiohead would like you to know…” and was filled with what seemed like a long string of gibberish.
Until we cracked the code.
This isn’t 100% confirmed and we’re unsure of the legitimacy of the email, but here’s what we decoded nonetheless:
Album title: Tehrangeles
Tracklist (with links to live clips):
01. Nook and Cranny
02. Come to Your Senses
03. The Daily Mail
04. I Froze Up
05. Give Up The Ghost
06. Supercollider
07. Man O War
08. Cerebellar Theory
09. Lotus Flower
10. Mouse Dog Bear
11. Burn The Witch
Hardcore Radiohead fans will likely recognize many of these tracks. Thom has played “The Daily Mail,” “Give Up the Ghost,” and “Mouse Dog Bear” recently, and other tracks, like “Lotus Flower,” “Supercollider,” and “I Froze Up,” have been performed in the past too. And remember the song “Big Boots (Man O War)” from the Meeting People Is Easy documentary? Looks like it’s been titled “Man O War” and, if this is at all true, is finally seeing release. IF YOU CAN TRUST OUR DECODING.
Guess we’ll have to wait and see if/when the band makes an official announcement. There are a lot of hoaxes out there, so we wouldn’t be surprised if this was all fake. Don’t trust anyone on the internet!
• Radiohead: http://www.radiohead.com