Did you wake up this morning wondering if Radiohead drummer Philip Selway was going to release a moody solo album? If so, yes, you are correct, and welcome to Wednesday. Selway announced that his next full-length Strange Dance is out February 24 via Bella Union. Ahead of the release of the 10-track project he's shared the lead single "Check for Signs of Life," which is a sullen piano-driven ballad.
Much of the follow-up to 2017's Let Me Go seems rooted in collaboration. Although Selway is known for his work drumming in Radiohead, he primarily gave that role over to Valentina Magaletti for Strange Dance, while the record also see contributions from Portishead's Adrian Utley, Hannah Peel, Quinta, Marta Salogni, and Laura Moody, as well as the London City Orchestra conducted by Robert Ames, the Assemble Choir with arrangements by Juliet Russell, and the Elysian Collective.
Also, while Selway was recording with producer Salogni at Evolution Studios, painter Stewart Geddes was inspired by his visits to those sessions, which resulted in a series of impressionistic paintings that includes the album's final artwork. “The scale of it was very deliberate for me, from the outset,” Selway said of the forthcoming album. “I wanted the soundscape to be broad and tall but somehow get it to wrap around this intimate vocal at the heart of it.”
Watch the video for "Check for Signs of Life" below, and pre-order Strange Dance here.
