"All I Need"
Promotional single by Radiohead
from the album In Rainbows
Released5 January 2009 (2009-01-05)
Recorded2005–2007
Genre
Length3:48
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Nigel Godrich

"All I Need" is a song by English alternative rock band Radiohead, produced by Nigel Godrich. It was released as a promotional single on 5 January 2009, from their seventh studio album, In Rainbows (2007). "All I Need" is a downbeat track which sees frontman Thom Yorke singing of obsession and unrequited love.

In support of the MTV EXIT anti-human trafficking campaign, Radiohead released a music video for "All I Need", directed by Steve Rogers, which premiered on 1 May 2008. The video, which contrasts the lives of two boys from different economic backgrounds, received acclaim and won numerous awards.

Recording

Radiohead debuted "All I Need" at their 20 June 2006 performance at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.[2] Singer Thom Yorke told the audience that they had just "sketched [the song] out earlier and might get it wrong".[2]

Radiohead recorded "All I Need" for their seventh studio album, In Rainbows (2007). They used a fan recording of the debut performance, uploaded to YouTube, as a reference when working in the studio; Yorke said: "It's all crunchy, it's all from mobile phone but... that's sort of an element of it I really find incredibly exciting."[3]

Guitarist Jonny Greenwood wanted to capture the sensation of white noise generated by "a band playing loudly in a room, when all this chaos kicks up".[4] Unable to produce the sound in a recording studio, Greenwood instead had a string section, the Millennia Ensemble,[5] play every note of the scale, blanketing the audio frequencies.[4] He also overdubbed his own viola playing.[4]

Guitarist Ed O'Brien used a guitar strung with four bottom E strings, creating a "thicker" sound, combined with a sustain unit (allowing notes to be sustained indefinitely) and delay pedal.[6] Yorke said that the final version of "All I Need" was a combination of four different recordings.[7]

Composition

"All I Need" is a sombre song with lyrics detailing obsession and love.[7][8] It incorporates strings,[9] synthesisers,[10] glockenspiel and piano.[11] Brian Howe of Paste wrote that it "contrasts baggy bass bleats with tiny, concise glockenspiel".[12] Robert Sandall of The Telegraph described it as Yorke's most "direct love song",[13] and Rolling Stone cited it as among "the most intense love songs [he] has ever sung".[14]

Yorke's lyrics incorporate metaphors describing unrequited love, describing himself as "an animal trapped in your hot car".[8] In the final crescendo,[15] the album's "most cathartic release", Yorke sings "it's all right, it's all wrong" as drummer Philip Selway's crash cymbals enter.[16][17]

Release

"All I Need" concludes the first half of In Rainbows.[11] On 5 January 2009, TBD Records and ATO Records released "All I Need" to United States adult album alternative radio, marking the fifth and final single from In Rainbows.[18] CD copies of the single were distributed by TBD Records for promotional purposes to coincide with the radio release, which included labels detailing Radiohead's nominations at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards.[19] A performance of "All I Need" was included on the 2008 live video In Rainbows – From the Basement.[20] Yorke remixed "All I Need" as a new song, "Honey Pot", which he played during a guest appearance on the radio station KCRW in June 2013.[21]

Music video

Radiohead produced the music video for "All I Need" with MTV in support of the MTV EXIT campaign, which promotes awareness and increase prevention of human trafficking and modern slavery.[22] Yorke said of the project:[22]

It's cool that MTV is taking this up ... It's good it's hitting the mainstream, because I don’t consider it a left-wing issue; I consider it a political-stability issue ... If [the campaign] does one good thing, it's to make this concept of slavery — which is what it is — less taboo. If they can make it something that is OK for us to talk about, and for politicians in the west to actually accept that this is an issue, well, then we're doing a good thing.

The video, directed by Steve Rogers and filmed in Australia by cinematographer John Seale, premiered on May 1, 2008.[22][23] In split screen, it depicts a day in the lives of two children from opposite sides of the world: a boy in the west from an affluent area, and a boy in the east forced to work in a sweatshop which produces shoes worn by the western boy.[22] The video garnered 16 awards, including the UNICEF–CASBAA Asia-Pacific Child Rights Award,[24] the Bronze ANDY for Film at the International Andy Awards, the In Book for Music Video at the 2009 D&AD Awards, and the Bronze Lion for Film at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.[25]

Reception

Thomas Leatham of Far Out named "All I Need" the third-best Radiohead song.[26]

Personnel

Credits adapted from the In Rainbows liner notes.[5]

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[27] Gold 40,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ "The 50 Best Alt-Rock Love Songs". Spin.com. 12 February 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
  2. ^ a b Mirabile, Vanessa (12 July 2006). "Chicagoans get 'Lucky'". Lumino. Chicago. Archived from the original on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  3. ^ XFM X-Posure, 3 January 2008
  4. ^ a b c Pareles, Jon (9 December 2007). "Pay What You Want for This Article". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  5. ^ a b In Rainbows (liner notes). Radiohead. XL Recordings. 2007. XLCD 324.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  6. ^ Michael Astley-Brown, Rob Laing (14 November 2017). "Radiohead's Ed O'Brien: "I was always drawn to sounds that didn't sound like the guitar". MusicRadar. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  7. ^ a b Marshall, Julian (8 December 2007). "Rainbow Warriors". NME. London.
  8. ^ a b Kellman, Andy. "In Rainbows – Radiohead". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  9. ^ Jones, Chris. "Radiohead In Rainbows Review". BBC Music. BBC. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  10. ^ Sheffield, Rob (1 November 2007). "In Rainbows". Rolling Stone. New York. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  11. ^ a b Pytlik, Mark (15 October 2007). "Radiohead: In Rainbows". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  12. ^ Howe, Brian (24 October 2007). "Radiohead: In Rainbows". Paste. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  13. ^ Sandall, Robert (9 October 2007). "Radiohead's In Rainbows: first review". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  14. ^ "100 Best Albums of the 2000s: Radiohead, 'In Rainbows'". Rolling Stone. New York. 18 June 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  15. ^ Pedris, Alexis (10 October 2007). "Radiohead's In Rainbows – a five-star review". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  16. ^ "Top 50 Albums of 2007". Pitchfork Media. 18 December 2007. Archived from the original on 29 February 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  17. ^ Singh, Amrit (30 April 2008). "New Radiohead Video – 'All I Need'". Stereogum. Spin Media. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  18. ^ "Triple A (Week Of: January 5, 2009)". Radio & Records. Los Angeles. Archived from the original on 8 March 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  19. ^ "All I Need" (single). Radiohead. TBD Records. 2009.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  20. ^ "Revisiting Radiohead's In Rainbows: From the Basement". Far Out Magazine. 26 June 2019. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  21. ^ "Listen to new Thom Yorke song: "Honey Pot"". Consequence of Sound. 7 June 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  22. ^ a b c d Montgomery, James (30 April 2008). "Radiohead Join Forces With MTV's Campaign Against Human Trafficking For 'All I Need' Video". MTV. Viacom Media Networks. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  23. ^ "Radiohead support campaign against human trafficking". NME. London. 30 April 2008. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  24. ^ "Award-Winning Radiohead-MTV Exit Music Video Raises Awareness about Human Trafficking". The Asia Foundation. 11 November 2009. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  25. ^ "Radiohead, MTV EXIT and USAID Music Video Collaboration to Raise Awareness About Human Trafficking Wins Asia-Pacific Child Rights Award". Reuters. 4 November 2009. Archived from the original on 28 July 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  26. ^ Leatham, Thomas (13 March 2023). "The 10 best Radiohead songs". Far Out. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  27. ^ "Canadian single certifications – Radiohead – All I Need". Music Canada. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
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