Photo by Nate Slevin

Recently, Radiohead stopped by NPR’s All Things Considered to chat about their latest record, this year’s The King of Limbs. Following a whirlwind week in New York City, the English quintet had plenty to discuss, but most of the attention focused on the polarizing effort – especially its creation. At one point, Thom Yorke likened the initial recording process to “kids in kindergarten,” stating, “You had to simplify what you were doing — you couldn’t do loads of ideas. You had to listen to one another. Believe it or not, in a band you can lose that.”

In response to the album’s murky reception, however, guitarist Ed O’Brien commented, “Part of what you do is rejection. I think everybody finds it hard, but I think part of creativity is bouncing back from that. What’s great about the environment that we have is that no one ever says, ‘You can’t do that.’ You try it, and then it’s judged on whether it’s right for the track.”

Surprisingly, it’s been the group’s recent live gigs that have been rather revelatory. The members digressed on the challenges Limbs initially presented for the stage, with Yorke professing optimistically, “That’s one of the ways we move on musically, is having to force ourselves to learn this thing.”

Check out the discussion below (via The King of Limbs Part 2)…