The five members of Radiohead have formed a new private limited company, suggesting the band are planning something in the near future.
On several occasions in the past, the band have pre-empted significant activity by establishing their own legal entities, including in March last year when a new LLP was set up that eventually resulted in the band’s European tour at the end of the year.
On Thursday (February 19), the five members of Radiohead – Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Ed O’Brien and Philip Selway – were all appointed as directors of a new private limited company named Futile Endeavours Limited that has been officially registered in the UK – see it on Companies House here.
There is no confirmation of what this suggests the band are planning, but it is a business arrangement that could set the table for a future new release or reissue project.
The band’s last album was ‘A Moon Shaped Pool’, which was released in May 2016, just months after the band registered the Dawn Chorus LLP. More recently, they did the same with the Spin With A Grin LLP, which came six months before the announcement of the ‘Kid A Mnesia’ reissue in 2021, and the Self Help Tapes LLP in 2022, ahead of announcing the debut album by The Smile.
Radiohead have been operating independently since parting ways with EMI/Parlophone after 2003’s ‘Hail To The Thief’. They founded Xurbia Xendless in 2007 before releasing ‘In Rainbows’ in the groundbreaking ‘pay what you want’ format via their website. That album and subsequent releases have been handled in physical formats in partnership with XL Recordings.
They played 20 shows in November and December last year, including four at The O2 in London. In a glowing five-star review, NME described their first London show as “the cinematic, arty yin to Oasis’ hedonistic yang” adding: “What a show: a visceral energy, a tasteful spectacle, all delivered with a generosity of spirit, Yorke in full rockstar mode as the band trade places to tend to each corner of the venue. For a band once embarrassed by the notion of ‘arena rock’, nobody does it better. A new album and another night like this can’t come soon enough.”
Jonny Greenwood has since spoken about the chances of new music. Speaking about the tour, he said: “It was great to revisit songs that we always felt were good and to find lots of other people now agree with us. And it was really nice to be playing and listening to Thom again. But I found it strange not to be doing anything new on the tour.”
He said that all members were “doing new music elsewhere now” and said he had “no idea” when they might release new music together again. “I mean, I’m surprised that the tour actually happened and that we all enjoyed it so much,” he added. “But venues get booked so far in advance. To do another we would have to decide now, and even then it wouldn’t happen for 18 months.”
Elsewhere, Jonny has also addressed the calls last year to boycott Radiohead’s tour, arguing that music and art should exist above politics.