“Confidenza” – Thom Yorke

Album: Confidenza (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Artist: Thom Yorke

Year: 2024

Genre: Ambient, Avant-Garde Jazz

Grade: B+

Fans of Thom Yorke — and by extension Radiohead (and by extension The Smile) — will no doubt enjoy this largely instrumental and mostly creepy soundtrack to the obscure 2024 Italian film of the same name: Confidenza is quite an arresting and captivating piece of work, and — similar to longtime bandmate Jonny Greenwood’s soundtracks — functions as a cohesive whole. Filled with droning synths, a flurry of foreboding woodwinds and occasional vocals, Confidenza is good enough by itself to warrant watching Daniele Luchetti’s film, which is the mark of a good soundtrack. Though I suspect only the most die-hard Radiohead fans will actually follow through on that promise.

NOTES & CHORDS

• I admire Yorke’s combination of dark ambient and jazz, which could be directly influenced by Floating Points & Pharoah Sanders’ 2021 masterpiece Promises.

• “Knife Edge” is an ambient-pop song featuring vocals and thoughtful lyrics that is probably the best tune on the album, one that works by itself outside the context of the soundtrack.

• For listeners who crave the most avant-garde aspects of Radiohead’s ouvre, I’ll direct you to the last five tracks, in which avant-garde classical and avant-garde jazz take center stage. The closing “On the Ledge” is a free-form freakout that truly makes me curious what happens at the end of the film.

---