Despite pushing rock music into increasingly experimental territory, Thom Yorke is, at his core, a traditional songwriter. Strip away the electronic textures and orchestral layers from his work with Radiohead or as a solo artist, and the songs remain. At their centre is a directness that few contemporary writers can match.
Over the years, Yorke has spoken about a wide range of influences. From foundational figures such as The Beatles to alternative touchstones like R.E.M., Pixies and Siouxsie and the Banshees, his tastes are broad. His listening extends further still, from Penderecki to Aphex Twin, reflecting the scope of his own work.
Yet for all that range, Yorke’s songwriting is rooted in the example of artists who worked in a far simpler, analogue era. Chief among them is Neil Young, the Canadian songwriter whose influence runs deep through modern alternative music.
Young’s career spans multiple phases, from Buffalo Springfield to Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, and a long solo catalogue defined by both intimacy and distortion. His willingness to follow instinct over polish has made him a touchstone for generations of musicians.
Yorke came to Young later than most. As a teenager, he sent home recordings to the BBC, hoping for exposure. The response was unexpected.
“They said, ‘This guy sounds like Neil Young,’” Yorke recalled in 2008. “I was like, ‘Who is Neil Young?’”
Curious, he sought out Young’s music and began with 1970’s After the Gold Rush. The effect was immediate.
“I immediately fell in love with his music,” Yorke said. “He has that soft vibrato that nobody else has. More than that, it was his attitude toward the way he laid songs down. It’s always about laying down whatever is in your head at the time and staying completely true to that, no matter what it is.”
That instinct, to follow an idea without compromise, remains central to Yorke’s own work.
