The Eraser

Yorke is the singer and lead songwriter of the band Radiohead. In 2004, after finishing the tour for their sixth album, Hail to the Thief (2003), Radiohead went on hiatus. As Radiohead had formed while the members were in school, Yorke said he was curious to try working alone for the first time. He dreaded telling his bandmates he had begun a solo project, but they supported him. The Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood said: "He had to get this stuff out, and everyone was happy [for Yorke to make it] ... He'd go mad if every time he wrote a song it had to go through the Radiohead consensus." == Recording ==

Yorke began recording The Eraser with Radiohead's producer, Nigel Godrich, in late 2004. Work continued throughout 2005 between Radiohead sessions. Godrich said that working with Yorke alone was more straightforward than with Radiohead, as he did not have to manage the relationship between Yorke and the other band members. On The Eraser, he and Yorke were able to "pull in the same direction". The Eraser began as "intense" and "heavy" Godrich encouraged Yorke to add vocals and make the music more accessible. Another song, "The Hollow Earth", was finished later and released as a single in 2009. In 2005, Yorke appeared on the web series From the Basement, performing songs including the Eraser track "Analyse". == Music and lyrics ==

According to the Guardian, The Eraser features "skittery" and "pattery" beats and "minimal post-rockisms". David Fricke of Rolling Stone felt the lyrics had an "emotional and pictorial directness" that was rare for Yorke. "And It Rained All Night" and "Cymbal Rush" address climate change and cataclysmic floods. The lines "No more going to the dark side with your flying saucer eyes / No more falling down a wormhole that I have to pull you out", from "Atoms for Peace", were inspired by an "admonition" from Yorke's partner, Rachel Owen. The song title references a 1953 speech by the American president Dwight D. Eisenhower. According to The Globe and Mail, "The Clock", influenced by Arabic music, is a "gliding, droning song about losing control while pretending 'that you are still in charge'". ==Artwork==

The Eraser cover art was created by Stanley Donwood, who also creates Radiohead's artwork. The cover, a linocut titled London Views, depicts a figure standing before London destroyed by flood in imitation of King Canute failing to command the ocean. Donwood said: "There was something about this immense torrent washing everything away and the futile figure holding back the wave (or failing to) that worked with the record, especially as we had both seen the flood, just when Thom was starting on the music." He also felt The Eraser was a "very English record", which fit the London imagery. The album is packaged as a large foldout containing the CD, as Donwood and Yorke wanted to avoid using plastic. == Release ==

On 11 May 2006, Yorke posted a link to the Eraser website on the Radiohead website. Two days later, he wrote in a press release: "I have been itching to do something like this for ages. It was fun and quick to do ... Yes, it's a record! No, it's not a Radiohead record." Before the release, "Black Swan" was used in the closing credits of the film A Scanner Darkly. The Eraser was released on 10 July 2006 in the UK by the independent label XL Recordings on CD and vinyl. Yorke said he chose XL because "it's very mellow. There's no corporate ethic. [Major labels are] stupid little boys' games – especially really high up." It was leaked online a month before release; Yorke said he regretted not releasing it as a download beforehand. The Eraser debuted at number three in the UK Albums Chart and stayed in the top 100 for ten weeks. In the United States, it debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling more than 90,000 copies in its first week. "Harrowdown Hill" was released as a single on 21 August, reaching number 23 on the UK singles chart, followed by "Analyse" on 6 November. The Eraser was followed by a compilation of B-sides, Spitting Feathers, and a 2008 album of remixes by various artists, The Eraser Rmxs. In July 2009, Yorke performed solo at Latitude Festival, performing Eraser songs on acoustic instruments. He contacted Godrich with the idea of forming a band to perform The Eraser, reproducing the electronic beats with Latin percussion. They formed a new band, Atoms for Peace, with musicians including the Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea. The band performed eight North American shows in 2010, and released an album, Amok, in 2013. ==Reception==

On the review aggregator site Metacritic, The Eraser has a score of 76/100, indicating "generally favourable reviews". Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone said: "These aren't Radiohead songs, or demos for Radiohead songs. They're something different, something we haven't heard before ... It's intensely beautiful, yet it explores the kind of emotional turmoil that makes the angst of [Radiohead albums] sound like kid stuff." The Los Angeles Times critic Ann Powers found that "like all of Yorke's best work, [The Eraser] finds its strength in the spaces where words and music dissolve, only to form something new". The Village Voice praised Yorke's vocals, but found that "without the hooks of his inspirations or [Radiohead's] density, the results offer pleasantries where they could provoke profound unpleasantries". Pitchfork wrote that The Eraser is "strikingly beautiful and thuddingly boring in maddeningly equal measure". the 30th by The Observer, and the 34th by Rolling Stone. It was nominated for the 2006 Mercury Prize and the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album. It is certified gold in the UK, Canada and Japan. ==Track listing==

Adapted from the album liner notes. • Thom Yorke – music, arrangement • Nigel Godrich – production, arrangement, extra instrumentation, mixing • Stanley Donwood – print • Jonny Greenwood – piano chords on "The Eraser" • Graeme Stewart – engineering • Darrell "MakeMyDay" Thorp – mixing assistance ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications and sales==