Philip Selway, Elysian Collective and Chris Vatalaro: Live at Evolution Studios – a genuine reimagining of original songs

Acting as a companion piece of sorts to Philip Selway’s latest solo album, Strange Dance, this record deepens the Radiohead drummer’s sense of collaboration with the Elysian Collective string quartet and the percussionist Chris Vatalaro, who help to reshape and re-envision those songs. Selway has worked with both for some time (since his 2014 record Weatherhouse), and their rich textures continue to inform.

Live at Evolution Studios reveals a genuine reimagining of Selway’s original songs, with The Heart of It All a more swirling, affecting confection, as he sings, “damn your good intentions, they trip you up and drag you down”, yet there is a real lightness to the compositions, with Picking Up Pieces and its swinging tempo, mingling elements of classical and rock, and People of the Sea, with its forlorn violin opening into a beautiful piano melody.

[ Radiohead’s Philip Selway: ‘If Bono is reading, I know all Larry Mullen’s parts’ ]

The Other Side is immersive, warm and sincere, and Little Things is sweeping and lovely, with droning tones that occasionally sound like warnings, yet for all the ominous signs (“don’t believe what they say”) it retains a pleasing sweetness. Check for Signs of Life is an elegant piece, with strings that seem to just grow in power, folding in skittering sounds that bring an interesting framing to Selway’s doleful vocal, and There’ll Be Better Days is prayerful, paving the way for the delicate, celestial Songs for Us.