Radiohead have formed a new legal entity, suggesting they may be planning significant activity in 2025.
On Monday (March 10), the band established a limited liability partnership (LLP) with the name RHEUK25, something they have done in the past when they are about to announce a new album, tour or reissue.
LLPs allow Radiohead to operate their business affairs independently, without relying on the framework of record labels and external companies. No further information has been shared by the band about what the legal move could signify.
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.
All five members of Radiohead – Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Ed O’Brien and Philip Selway – are listed as officers in the RHEUK25 LLP.
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.
The band have been characteristically coy about their future plans recently. Last year, Yorke made headlines by saying he “really doesn’t give a fuck” if fans want Radiohead to return. When asked by Australian outlet Double J about his thoughts on speculation over the band’s future, he replied: “I am not aware of it and don’t really give a flying fuck.”
“No offence to anyone and err, thanks for caring,” he continued. “But I think we’ve earned the right to do what makes sense to us without having to explain ourselves or be answerable to anyone else’s historical idea of what we should be doing.”
That came after bassist Colin Greenwood caught up with NME around the release of his new photo book How To Disappear, and opened up about the band’s reunion rehearsals over the summer.
Colin said at the time: “We got together in the summer just for a couple of days and just ran through all the songs and picked up where we left off in 2018. It was really fun and nice to see everyone. We were going to do three or four days but knocked it on the head after two because it was fine and we could still do it. My brother said that we’d just need a couple of weeks’ rehearsal and we could go on the road, no problem.
“Beyond that, everyone’s heads are focussed on finishing up what they’ve been doing. My brother has been unwell and is still recovering. Rehearsals were really fun and amicable, though. We rehearsed in this studio called The Church where we ended up finishing up ‘OK Computer’, so the last time I was there was 1996 recording the bass for ‘Airbag’. There we were, back in Crouch End. It was great, but beyond that get together, I’m sure we’ll get together and make plans – but for what, I don’t know.”
Before then, his brother Jonny shared with NME that he found the rehearsals “fun and natural”, but went on to add that there are “no plans” for anything Radiohead-related in 2025, as the members are focused on “individual projects”.
Meanwhile, earlier this week, Yorke and Mark Pritchard announced their first full-length album together. ‘Tall Tales’ will be released on May 9 via Warp, which will include the singles ‘This Conversation Is Missing Your Voice’ and ‘Back In The Game’.
