“One, two, three, four.”
And with that, Radiohead drummer Philip Selway introduced the first track of his forthcoming solo album to the world; with a whimper rather than a bang. What a relief it is that Phil’s singing voice is a delight to listen to – he was originally pencilled in to be Radiohead’s backing singer after all – not that any of us doubted the bald headed wonder’s ability to woo us with his silky crooning abilities, but one worries what effect sitting mute behind a drumkit for decades might’ve had on the poor chap.
“By Some Miracle” finds itself at the top of the bill on the tracklist for Familial and is a low key affair, with near-whispered vocals and a thoroughly eerie and unsettling instrumentation which is carefully weighted so that different sounds come into focus as the song progresses. The basic but effective guitar line fades and gives way to the drums, more a collection of sounds than marking out a beat, and we’re even treated to some backing “oooh”-ing followed by the mantra “put it back, put it back, put it where you found it” delivered by what sounds like a gang of witches.
Phil has always been seen as one of the quieter members of Radiohead (a band that is already secluded as is) so his modesty comes as no surprise. Take the chorus for instance: “By some miracle, I just got away with it.” He hasn’t so much gotten away with it as passed with flying colours. One downbeat folksy number is fine, and this so brief it’s over before it’s started – but let’s hope the album has more to offer.
