Radiohead will unveil its newest material during a short European tour that kicks off with a May 6-7 stand in Copenhagen. Dates are on tap through May 19 in London, after which Radiohead will cross the Atlantic for as-yet-unannounced shows in North America in addition to a June 17 headlining set at Bonnaroo outside Nashville.
Also on tap are Aug. 19-20 shows as part of the U.K.’s V Festival. “To keep things more fun and spontaneous, we will be playing new songs that are work in progress,” the band says in a statement. “We will also be releasing music to download when we are excited about it, rather than wait 12 months for a full-blown album release.”
As such, there’s no timetable yet for Radiohead’s next album, on which it has been working for the past several months. “Some of the random stuff we have at the moment could be the most exciting,” frontman Thom Yorke wrote yesterday (March 20) on the band’s Web site. “[We’re] trying to figure out how on earth we will be able to play some of it.”
“I think we’ve always worked best when we aren’t bothered about making mistakes,” Yorke continued. “There’s a lot of baggage about the old way of doing things that is hard to get over. All the ‘album’ crap — just this level of pressure that is ridiculous. We’re just going to do what feels right at the time. Quite into the idea of singles at the moment (that don’t get on the radio).”
Here are Radiohead’s tour dates:
May 6-7: Copenhagen (KB Hall)
May 9-10: Amsterdam (Heinken Hall)
May 12-13: Blackpool, England (Empress Ballroom)
May 15-16: Wolverhampton, England (Civic Center)
May 18-19: London (Hammersmith Apollo)
June 17: Manchester, Tenn. (Bonnaroo)
Aug. 12: Obuda, Hungary (Sziget Festival)
Aug. 19-20: Hylands Park/Weston Park, England (V Festival)
Aug. 22: Edinburgh (Meadowbank Stadium)
Aug. 24: Dublin (Marlay Park)
