Radiohead Surprise Drop New Live Album On Streaming Services

Radiohead have surprise released the new live album, Hail To The Thief Live Recordings 2003-2009, which fans can now enjoy on streaming services ahead of the physical release in October.

Comprising performances of songs from the band’s 2003 album, Hail To The Thief, recorded in London, Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, and Dublin between 2003 and 2009, the power and diversity of the original album isn’t lost on the live release. Mixed by Ben Baptie and mastered by Matt Colton, the live album showcases the band firing on all cylinders.

Singer Thom Yorke said the live album was born from trying to create arrangements for the band’s Shakespeare Hamlet/Hail To The Thief theatre production. As a result of listening back to live recordings from the 2003-2009 period, he re-evaluated his relationship with the album, and the band decided to share the live album with the public.

“In the process of thinking of how to build arrangements for the Shakespeare Hamlet/Hail To The Thief theatre production, I asked to hear some archive live recordings of the songs,” Yorke explained.

“I was shocked by the kind of energy behind the way we played. I barely recognised us, and it helped me find a way forward. We decided to get these live recordings mixed and released (it would have been insane to keep them for ourselves). It has all been a very cathartic process. We very much hope you enjoy them.”

You can listen to the live album here and watch a rendition of There, There (live from Buenos Aires, 2009) below. Hail To The Thief Live Recordings 2003-2009 will be released as one-off vinyl pressings via Radiohead’s W.A.S.T.E. store on Friday, 31 October—pre-order it here.

Hail To The Thief Live Recordings 2003-2009 is the first release from the band since they formed a new legal entity in March.

Earlier this year, Radiohead registered a new limited liability partnership (LLP) under the name RHEUK25, with LLPs serving as a form of business entity that allows the band to operate without the ordinary record label model. Previous LLPs had formed before new records from the band, in addition to albums from frontman Thom Yorke and side project The Smile.

It’s been seven years since Radiohead last toured, having wrapped up their live dates in support of 2016’s A Moon Shaped Pool in August 2018.

Since then, band members have remained busy, with Yorke releasing solo material and teaming up with Jonny Greenwood as part of The Smile. In 2024, Yorke also embarked on a solo tour, which visited Australia and saw him debut material from a new collaborative album with Mark Pritchard.