"The Daily Mail" and "Staircase" are songs by the English
alternative rock band
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...
, released as a
download on 19 December 2011. Both recordings are taken from the live video ''
The King of Limbs: Live from the Basement'' (2011), and feature additional drummer and percussionist Clive Deamer.
Recording
Both songs are taken from the live video ''
The King of Limbs: Live from the Basement'' (2011), and feature the additional drummer and percussionist Clive Deamer.
"The Daily Mail" was written six years before release. When Radiohead decided to perform it for ''From the Basement'', they completed the arrangement within a week, featuring a
brass section arranged by the guitarist
Jonny Greenwood
Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood (born 5 November 1971) is an English musician and composer. He is the lead guitarist and keyboardist of the alternative rock band Radiohead, and has written numerous film scores.
Along with his elder brother, th ...
.
The song criticises the ''
Daily Mail
The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...
'', a British
tabloid
Tabloid may refer to:
* Tabloid journalism, a type of journalism
* Tabloid (newspaper format), a newspaper with compact page size
** Chinese tabloid
* Tabloid (paper size), a North American paper size
* Sopwith Tabloid, a biplane aircraft
* ''Ta ...
newspaper, with lyrics such as "the lunatics have taken over the asylum" and "we'll feed you to the hounds / to the ''Daily Mail''". ''
Vulture'' described it as a "piano ballad that grows, bolstered by fury ... into a swaggering anthem".
"Staircase" features "atmospheric" synthesisers and "busy, skittering" beats. Radiohead worked on it before their eighth album, ''
The King of Limbs'' (2011), but it did not progress beyond the
demo stages until after the album's release.
Reception
Reviewing a performance on ''
The Colbert Report'', ''
Guardian
Guardian usually refers to:
* Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another
* ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper
(The) Guardian(s) may also refer to:
Places
* Guardian, West Virginia, Unite ...
'' writer
Hadley Freeman wrote that "The Daily Mail" was "a funny idea" but "barely touches its nigh on unmissable target". However, a 2020 ''Guardian'' article by Jazz Monroe named it the 39th best Radiohead song: "It’s irresistible, suggesting an unlikely kinship between Radiohead and the venerable pop cynic
Randy Newman
Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist known for his Southern American English, Southern-accented singing style, early Americana (music), Americana-influenced songs (often ...
: musical-theatre flair weaponised against tabloid hysteria." The ''
Stereogum
''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine.
''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...
'' writer Chris Deville said that "The Daily Mail" was "among Yorke’s most powerful piano rockers", and described "Staircase" as "like a
Hot Chip
Hot Chip are an English synthpop band formed in London in 1995. The group consists of multi-instrumentalists Alexis Taylor, Joe Goddard, Al Doyle, Owen Clarke, and Felix Martin. They are occasionally joined by former member Rob Smoughton for ...
song descending into purgatory (in the best way)".
He speculated that ''The King of Limbs'' would be a fan favourite had it included the songs along with "
Supercollider
A particle accelerator is a machine that uses electromagnetic fields to propel charged particles to very high speeds and energies, and to contain them in well-defined beams.
Large accelerators are used for fundamental research in particle ...
" and "
The Butcher", also released that year.
Track listing
Charts
References
External links
*
"Staircase" video in ''From the Basement''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daily Mail Staircase, The
Radiohead songs
2011 singles
Song recordings produced by Nigel Godrich
2011 songs