The grainy VHS footage features Yorke performing an acoustic set at the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, Canada on March 28, 1995.

In the video, he performs ‘(Nice Dream)’, ‘High and Dry’ ‘Street Spirit (Fade Out)’ and ‘Fake Plastic Trees’ from the album, as well as ‘Thinking About You’ from Radiohead’s debut ‘Pablo Honey’.

An album full of arty, guitar-driven anthems, ‘The Bends’ helped to propel Radiohead to further heights than before, reaching number 4 on the UK Albums Chart, higher than ‘Pablo Honey‘, which peaked at 22.

It was record made under pressure. Thom Yorke told NME in 1993 “I’m fucking ill and physically I’m completely fucked and mentally I’ve had enough,” from the pressure of trying to recapture the success of the band’s breakout single ‘Creep’ and a gruelling touring schedule.

In early 1994, more stress came for the band as they were told by their label EMI that they only had nine weeks to come up with new album. Thom Yorke channelled those anxieties and tensions into his songwriting, delivering an emotional work that mixed more tender moments with harder guitar riffs.

The album is noted for starting a shift in British rock music away from the ‘lad-rock’ Britpop of the time to more sensitive, alt/indie stylings of groups like Snow Patrol and Coldplay. In a retrospective write-up, The Telegraph said “The Oxford quintet’s second album may have lacked the headline-grabbing ker-pow of the Blur vs Oasis chart battle of August 1995, but The Bends spawned something far more consequential: decades of “bedwetter” music.”

Last week, the band formed a new legal entity with the name RHEUK25, leading many to believe this could signal significant new activity for Radiohead in 2025.

LLP’s (limited liability partnership’s) allow Radiohead to operate their business affairs independently of record labels and external companies. They have done this in the past when they’re about to announce a new album, tour or reissue.

For example, the bands last album, ‘A Moon Shaped Pool’ from 2016, was released just after registration of the Dawn Chorus LLP.

Recently, Yorke has teamed up with producer Mark Pritchard for a collaborative album. Their debut LP together ‘Tall Tales’ will be released on May 9 through Warp Records. They’ve released their first single, ‘This Conversation Is Missing Your Voice’, an electronica influenced track with an artsy video. You can see our writeup on that here.

The album reflects the hardships 2020 has brought, especially as the recording coincided with her travelling back to Ireland to be with her family for the lockdown. In a statement about the album Rosie said; “There are actually a lot of firsts for me on this album but I made sure not to put pressure on myself. I took my time and gave myself the freedom to do whatever felt right to me.

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Along with the album, Rosie has also released the visual for High and Dry. This was the song Rosie was most worried about covering, as she feared she couldn’t do it justice. Speaking about the song, she said; “I don’t think I’d ever paid too much attention to the lyrics of this song before covering it, and in ways reading the lyrics was kind of like a reality check for me. At the start of lockdown I’d become so obsessed with what people were thinking of me. I felt vulnerable and in ways exposed, so I tried to hide that by muting and changing myself.”

“I felt like nothing I did was good or cool enough which was shit. Thankfully hindsight is an amazing thing, and after being able to hit somewhat of a reset button, I think I was able to appreciate the message this song holds, which, to me, is don’t waste your life pretending. I remember thinking, ‘damn, I can’t believe I nearly became like the person they’re singing about.”

This album comes after the release of her debut album Bare last year, which received high regards from critics as they described Rosie as finally finding her sound. The Irish Times even described her music as; “a resonant depiction of a person moving on, learning and coping. Instrumentation is sparse: guitar, piano and little else. It’s Carney’s voice that holds the attention.”

The Bend is available now on all platforms, you can listen to it below.

In addition to ‘Fake Plastic Trees’, Bridgers and Parks produced a beautiful performance of ‘Kyoto’, one of the lead singles from Punisher, which was released earlier this year. It has become a firm fan favourite, and Bridgers is cultivating something of a cult following.

Bridgers predominantly leads the vocals in these two covers, while Parks accompanies on the piano, but the occasional harmonisation of their two voices is completely ethereal. The collaboration has been described as everything from “tender” to “fragile”. Parks herself tweeted that she had loved working with Bridgers and that she was in awe of her “angel voice”. The church venue only contributes to the incredible atmosphere that the two create, with nothing more than two voices, a piano and a skeleton onesie.

In fact, Parks and Bridgers have been running in the same circles for a while now; just recently, Parks covered ‘Moon Song’ from Punisher for her ‘Lo-Fi Lounge’ Series. You can watch her rendition below. A further circularity: this is not even Parks’ first high-profile Radiohead cover. She recorded and released ‘Creep’ for the soundtrack of the film Shy Radicals, which will screen at film festivals later this year. Although she doesn’t sing much of ‘Fake Plastic Trees’, her unique, beautiful voice completely reinvigorates ‘Creep’, the one Radiohead song that you might have thought you’d heard every variation of by now!

Parks talked about choosing ‘Creep’, calling the song “a simultaneously delicate and brutal exploration of inner turmoil and human relationships. This song has acted as a refuge for me, during times of self-reflection and low mood, for many years and Radiohead as a band has deeply influenced my music.”

She talks about all of her work with the same invaluable insight. Describing her latest single, ‘Hurt’, she told NME: “‘Hurt’ surrounds the possibility of healing from pain and the temporary nature of suffering … it is supposed to uplift and comfort those going through hard times.”

Generally, Arlo Parks has had a busy summer. When ‘Hurt’ was released last month, it premiered as Annie Mac’s Hottest Record.  Earlier today she shared a post online about how grateful she was for the enthusiastic reception of it; this came in the wake of it being named Greg James’ song of the week this week, as well as occupying a spot on the 6 Music B-list.

The reaction to Hurt has been so completely uplifting and honestly made me feel so special – I’m excited to announce that it is king @gregjames‘s tune of the week PLUS on the B list @BBC6Music – thank u to everyone for believing in me and my work. pic.twitter.com/97IoZ5BRAu

— Arlo Parks (@arloparks) September 7, 2020

These two special covers, ‘Fake Plastic Trees’ and ‘Kyoto’ feel somehow hopeful, after a summer of postponed album releases and digital festivals. Although we’re all desperate for those things to get back to normal, Parks and Bridgers, amongst others, have spent this time showing us a different way to enjoy music, through covers and collaborations and live streams. As listeners and fans, it feels like there is no greater pleasure than having the music world dominated by artists who are so in love with their jobs that they talk this eloquently and produce music of this quality and completely refresh the songs we love most.