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Strange how you stumble on things you’ve never thought about before, and as it sinks in the excitement builds to the point where you wonder how on earth you never realised this was happening before, why you never thought of it as a possibility, and just how good it’s going to be.

I refer to the first, er, individual project album from Thom Yorke, lead singer of Radiohead, and is due out next week. I stumbled on it reading Gordon’s musings on recent music, thinking to myself “I’ve not bought anything”, and as I desperately fight the urge to buy stuff on iTunes (or, more expensive still, the Apple store itself; I need a new laptop), see him mention Thom Yorke’s “The Eraser” album coming out next week.

Cue a quiet moment of quiet reflection, whilst the gravity of that sinks in.

This is a Big Thing. I think.

That said, you may not like Radiohead (eh?), or - as with Frances - “likes their earlier stuff”, or somesuch. Eh? Radiohead are, in my view, one of those deliciously rare things where they keep getting better (Creep is a classic of it’s time, but one I actually don’t like that much now). They’re currently outside of a recording contract (I’ll resist the temptation to use that Scottish-ism “outwith“, which I’ve come to quite like, for the sake of the majority of my friends), and touring (how I wish I could go see them), and hopefully concocting new and interesting music. However, there’s a pang of worry of course that if Thom hits it big with this, there may be some new strains. Where have Blur gone since Gorillaz?

So, awaiting that new album I’m sure will appear, it seems Thom Yorke’s not quite gone Solo, merely trying a few things on his own, and most certainly trying some things out. I, for one, welcome our newly not-really-solo Mr Yorke, and will be around to the local record shop like a shot next week, seeings Radiohead and so on don’t “do” iTunes.

Rolling Stones Review here for your masochistic reading. Check out the Videocast too, for background bits and pieces, and some sample tracks.

And I’m off to play lots and lots of Radiohead to get me in the mood. Marvellous. Today has just got a whole lot better.