Radiohead - Burn the Witch Research

Radiohead

The five band members

The Band

Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire. Formed in 1985, the band have been together 32 years. The band consists of Thom Yorke (lead vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards), Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments), Ed O'Brien (guitar, backing vocals), Colin Greenwood (bass), and Phil Selway (drums, percussion, backing vocals). They have worked with producer Nigel Godrich and cover artist Stanley Donwood since 1994.

After signing to EMI in 1991, Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992. The song became a worldwide hit after the release of their debut album, Pablo Honey (1993). Their popularity rose in the United Kingdom with the release of their second album called The Bends (1995). Radiohead's third album, OK Computer (1997), caused them to become famous worldwide. It is noted for its complex production and themes of modern alienation, acclaiming it as a landmark record of the 1990's and one of the best albums in popular music. Their music may be considered as alternative.

"Out of Control" music video

In their promotional material such as their music videos, the band represent themselves as very different and unique. The band members often adopt a persona and act in strange ways. For example, in their music video for the song 'Out of Control' we see Thom Yorke's face close up to the camera whilst nearly drowning in water, as seen in the image below.

Another strange music video that Radiohead have produced is the one that accompanies the song 'Paranoid Android'.

Moon shaped pool

Album artwork

A Moon Shaped Pool is Radiohead's ninth studio album, released digitally on 8 May 2016. Radiohead recorded A Moon Shaped Pool in southern France with their producer Nigel Godrich. Many of the songs featured on the album were written years earlier, for example "True Love Waits" dates to at least 1995, "Burn the Witch" to 2000 and "Present Tense" to 2008. The album features strings and choral vocals arranged by Jonny Greenwood and performed by the London Contemporary Orchestra. Radiohead promoted A Moon Shaped Pool a week before its release with the singles "Burn the Witch" and "Daydreaming", both accompanied by music videos. A Moon Shaped Pool has been described as an art rock album. It combines electronic elements such as drum machines and synthesisers with acoustic timbres such as guitar, piano, and Greenwood's string and choral arrangements.

Burn the Witch

The song "Burn the Witch" was released on 3 May 2016 as the lead single from the album A Moon Shaped Pool. Radiohead developed the song for over a decade, first working on it during the sessions for their fourth album, Kid A (2000). It features a string section playing col legno battuto, producing a percussive sound, arranged by the guitarist Jonny Greenwood.

"Burn the Witch" was accompanied by a stop-motion animated music video that pays respect to the 1960s British children's television programme Camberwick Green and the 1973 British horror film The Wicker Man. Some critics interpreted the lyrics and video as a warning against groupthink and authoritarianism. The song received positive reviews and was nominated for Best Rock Song at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards.

"Burn the Witch" was described by The Atlantic as an orchestral pop song. However, The Guardian calls it an art rock song. The music video was directed by Chris Hopewell, who previously directed the animated video for Radiohead's 2003 single "There There". The video was conceived and finished in 14 days and released on YouTube one week later on 3 May 2016. According to the son-in-law of Trumpton creator Gordon Murray, the family was not asked permission to use the style for the video and saw it as a "tarnishing of the brand."

Clips from the music video

The video depicts mob rule in a rural community. During the video, an inspector is greeted by a town mayor and invited to see a series of unsettling sights, culminating in the unveiling of a wicker man. The mayor urges the inspector to climb into the wicker man, whereupon he is locked inside as a human sacrifice and the wicker man is set on fire. As the flames gather, the townspeople turn their backs and wave goodbye to the camera. After the song ends, the inspector escapes among the trees.

Pitchfork interpreted "Burn the Witch" as a criticism of authority and a warning against groupthink, expressing a "deep sense of dread and skepticism". The Guardian felt it addressed mass surveillance or the threat to open discussion posed by the self-policing users of social media. Pitchfork writer Marc Hogan suggested that the use of the Trumpton Trilogy style in the video, which portrays an idyllic, crime-free rural Britain, reflects the rhetoric of family values used by right-wing politicians such as Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen, and members of the UK Independence Party. Animator Virpi Kettu, who worked on the music video, interpreted the song as a comment on the European migrant crisis and scapegoating of Muslims. The visual style of the video was deliberately lighter in tone than the song, as Radiohead "wanted the video to contrast with what they're playing and to wake people up a bit." After the election of US President Donald Trump on 8 November 2016, Yorke tweeted lyrics from the song and linked to its music video, interpreted as a criticism of Trump's rightwing policies.

Chris Hopewell - the video director

Chris Hopewell

Chris Hopewell is an English music video director. He has directed videos for Radiohead, Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, Scissor Sisters, Louis XIV, The Knife, The Offspring and several other bands. His video for Radiohead's "There There" received an award for art direction at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards. He also co-directed with Crispian Mills on the film 'A Fantastic Fear of Everything' starring Simon Pegg. His most recent work is directing the music video for Avenged Sevenfold's 2016 single, "The Stage".

The Wicker Man

The Wicker Man (1973)

The Wicker Man is a 1973 British mystery horror film directed by Robin Hardy. It stars Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt, and Christopher Lee. The screenplay by Anthony Shaffer, inspired by David Pinner's 1967 novel Ritual, centres on the visit of Police Sergeant Neil Howie to the isolated island of Summerisle, in search of a missing girl. Howie, a devout Christian, is appalled to find that the inhabitants of the island have abandoned Christianity and now practise a form of Celtic paganism. Paul Giovannicomposed the film score.

The Trumptonshire Trilogy (1966 - 1969)

Trumpton is a stop-motion children's television series from the producer Gordon Murray. First shown on the BBC from January to March 1967, it was the second series in the Trumptonshire trilogy, which comprised Camberwick Green, Trumpton and Chigley. Trumptonshire was created using stop motion animation and actual 3D scaled down models. The entire trilogy consisted of 39 x 15-minute episodes. All 39 episodes were first broadcast on BBC1, airing before the midday news. The original footage had to be located – some footage was found in the family's attic and some deep in the archives of BBC Worldwide in Perivale. It was originally released 3 January – 28 March 1967. The puppets are designed to be around 20 cm high. BBC Studios and Post Production's Digital Media Services team remastered all 39 episodes of the Trumptonshire Trilogy in 2011 for DVD release, cleaning, scanning and digitally restoring the film footage frame by frame.