Radiohead Return With “Burn The Witch”

Summer sixteen is quickly becoming Radiohead season.

The British alternative rock legends have released a video for “Burn The Witch,” the first single off their upcoming ninth studio album. The stop-motion animation video was released around 11 am today after the band had practically disappeared from all forms of social media and Internet presence two days ago. The nearly four-minute video seems to be inspired by the 1973 horror film The Wicker Man (sadly not the hilarious 2006 Nicolas Cage remake) as the haunting track plays over a traveler entering a mysterious village, only to meant a fiery doom.

The track sounds leagues away from anything off of their last studio album, 2011’s The King of Limbs, with a haunting string section driving the song. Listening carefully will allow listeners to hear the repeating electronic drums and the acoustic guitar in the background. And of course, there’s singer Thom Yorke’s eerie vocals behind it all. In fact, it’s not too far off of their rejected theme song for last year’s James Bond movie Spectre.

Radiohead have released no other details regarding their upcoming album but did reveal in a press release that the single will be available for purchase at “00:01 on May 4.” Radiohead will embark on a world tour this summer starting in Amsterdam on May 20 and will appear stateside at Madison Square Garden on July 26-27, at the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago on July 29, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on August 4 and 8 and at the Outside Lands Festival in California’s Golden Gate Park on August 6. Radiohead’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages have been updated with new art and clips from the video.

Keep watch on The Young Folks to find out more information on Radiohead’s next move. In the meantime, let us know in the comments below what you think of the new Radiohead song.