Radiohead is back, and this time with a Paul Thomas Anderson collaboration to boot. And what a sweet, sweet coupling it is. Just a couple of days ago, the band released an incredible stop-motion animated music video for “Burn the Witch,” helmed by frequent collaborator Chris Hopewell. And today, in addition to announcing that their new album will be released on May 8th, the band unveiled a new live-action video for “Daydreaming” directed by Anderson. Of course Anderson has a strong connection to the band as guitarist Jonny Greenwood has scored Anderson’s last three films, including phenomenal work on There Will Be Blood, but this new collaboration is mighty fruitful.
The video sees frontman Thom Yorke walking through various doors that open to new and unexpected places, and it’s a positively hypnotic piece of work that is equal parts gorgeous and terrifying. It’s great to be getting a new Radiohead album, but it’s also fantastic to have a new piece of work from Anderson as another surprise. His hazy 2014 comedy Inherent Vice was sorely underrated, and the filmmaker seems to be getting more ambitious with each new feature, so I’m eager to see what feature film project he settles on next.
For now, watch the music video for “Daydream” over and over again.
