Mark Pritchard & Thom Yorke
Tall Tales
Warp Records [2025]
“Pritchard and Yorke rewire the emotional core of electronic music into something deeply cinematic.”
Album Overview: Mark Pritchard has always been a shape-shifter in the electronic world, gliding between ambient, IDM, and club-ready styles since the early ’90s. From his early work in Global Communication and Reload, he helped define a genre-hopping wave of UK electronica. Thom Yorke, of course, needs no introduction—whether with Radiohead or The Smile, he’s made a career out of bending emotion through wires and machines. While Pritchard once remixed “Bloom” from The King of Limbs, Tall Tales is their first full-length collaboration—and it also marks Yorke’s debut on the legendary Warp Records, home to forward-thinking sound experiments since the ’90s.
More than just an album, Tall Tales comes paired with a full-length visual film directed by Jonathan Zawada, turning the whole project into an immersive audiovisual experience. Over twelve tracks, Yorke and Pritchard build a hazy, slow-moving world of unease and fragile beauty. It feels like a soundtrack for an anxious planet—where nothing is clearly spelled out, and resolution isn’t guaranteed.
Musical Style: This record leans into eerie textures and spectral vocals. Pritchard layers analog synths, stuttering rhythms, and drifting ambience, while Yorke’s voice is processed and warped—sometimes melodic, sometimes just another instrument in the mix. The album resists easy categorization, floating between ambient, experimental pop, and electronic abstraction. The glue here is tension, atmosphere, and a constant sense of unease.
Evolution of Sound: Both artists push deeper into the abstract on Tall Tales. Pritchard mostly ditches beat-driven tracks for murky sound design and tonal instability. Yorke, meanwhile, goes full ghost mode—his vocals often blur into the background, less about lyrics and more about emotional tone. Instead of following a clear structure, the album drifts unpredictably. It’s an equal partnership—neither artist dominates, and that’s part of the intrigue.
Artists with Similar Fire: If you’re into the glitchy surrealism of Oneohtrix Point Never, the ambient decay of Tim Hecker, or James Blake’s mix of vocals and electronics, you’ll find familiar vibes here. Fans of the more atmospheric side of EOB, the faded textures of Boards of Canada, or the experimental sprawl of Arca might also click with Tall Tales.
Pivotal Tracks: “Gangsters” kicks things off with a warped rhythm and unsettling vocal phrasing—intimate, but a little off-kilter. “The Spirit” stands tall with its hypnotic keys and layered harmonies, as Yorke’s falsetto floats above the haze. “This Conversation Is Missing Your Voice” feels the most direct and emotionally accessible. Each track bleeds into the next like a dream—mood over melody, drift over direction.
Lyrical Strength: Yorke keeps things cryptic. His lyrics are fragmented, processed, and buried under effects—but that’s the point. Instead of telling stories, they sketch out feelings: anxiety, longing, unease. Whether he’s reflecting on environmental collapse or inner turmoil, the words land like echoes—just enough to stir something in you without offering answers.
Final Groove: Tall Tales is more mood than movement, more texture than tune. It won’t be for everyone—its slow pace and abstract vibe can drift a little too far into the ether. But when it hits, it creates a sense of atmosphere few records can touch. It’s a record that asks for patience, rewards headphone listening, and leaves room for interpretation. For fans of either artist, this is a fascinating detour. Whether it’s a one-off experiment or the start of something deeper, Tall Tales lingers like a strange dream you’re still trying to decode the morning after.
MARK PRITCHARD & THOM YORKE LINKS
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- Mark Pritchard & Thom Yorke: Tall Tales [Album Review] - May 13, 2025
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