Thom Yorke recently appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, chatting Brexit and the state of the world and reflecting on Radiohead’s history of politically-minded songwriting.
“For decades, you’ve been writing music that is uneasy and anxious with regards to society, our government, technology, the general direction of the world,” Colbert says to Yorke early on in the interview. “How does it feel to be right?”
Yorke replies “I guess I wasn’t thinking about the future. I was looking at what was happening at the time. It just seemed to get more obvious, I think it’s more overt now.”
Yorke points out that even during the time period in which Radiohead’s 2003 album Hail to the Thief was written, things didn’t seem particularly good. “And now we’re here,” he adds.
Colbert asks Yorke to elaborate on the current state of Brexit and British politics, and – comparing it to the state of things over in America – Yorke responds “You have at least the chance to push [Trump] off the cliff—just him. We’re tied to these guys. They’re tying us up and they’re going to take us off the cliff with them, and as they do it, they’re saying they’re the will of the people. It’s kind of disturbing. We live in strange times.”
Yorke also discussed some of the themes behind latest solo album Anima, which was released back in June of this year.
Watch the full interview below.
