A Creative Breakthrough Lies Just Beyond This
Trust the process. Even in the in-between time. Even when you can’t see the finish line.
After the success of their 1997 album, “OK Computer,” British rock band Radiohead faced immense pressure to produce another landmark effort.
Lead singer and songwriter Thom Yorke was burnt out from the intense tour and promotional schedule they had been keeping.
But critics and fans wanted more. More melodic rock. More angsty lyrics. More of the same. They wanted OK Computer, Vol. 2. Imitators of the Radiohead sound were starting to sprout up. Other bands, such as Coldplay, would go on to build huge careers making their own versions of OK Computer, Vol. 2.
But instead of doing the expected, Radiohead released Kid A, a surprising, confusing and divisive album that took the band in a starkly different direction.
Instead of alternative guitar hooks, it served up synths and drum samples. Instead of anthems, it used chopped up lyrics that sounded like a poetic collage. The album drew from the repetitive and experimental sounds of electronica.
Kid A is now considered a masterpiece. It was ranked the number 1 album of the 2000s by Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, and The Times. Rolling Stone named it the 20th greatest album of all time.
But in 1999—in the between time—the members of Radiohead weren’t feeling on the verge of creating a masterpiece.
They were on the verge of self-destruction.
Thom Yorke’s new interests in EDM bands like Aphex Twin and Autechre left the other band members cold.
Some members considered leaving the band.
What was guitarist Ed O’Brien supposed to do on a track that used no guitars? How was drummer Philip Selway supposed to contribute on a track that only used drum machines?
Instead of giving up, the band worked. They recorded dozens of hours of music to tape, much of it to no avail.
They experimented with dividing the band into two groups, one of which produced material using electronic techniques, and the other developing it more traditionally.
Multi-instrumentalist Jony Greenwood learned new instruments, like the ondes martenot.
They worked in four different recording studios over the course of months, returning again and again to a stalemate.
Eventually, the band decided that if they couldn’t produce an album they all agreed on, they would break up.
What would you have done in this situation? Would you have been open to change, to curiosity? To doing the work?
Remember, most of the band thought that this new path was leading to a dead end. Can’t we just play to our strengths?
Thom Yorke gets a lot of credit for pushing the band to grow, and rightly so. But we should also admire and emulate the other members of the band for their commitment to the process.
Eventually, the band figured out just one song: “Everything in It’s Right Place.” It was a watershed moment for the group and the album.
The new approach had worked for one complete track. The vision had its first complete statement. The band accepted that they didn’t have to contribute to every track. Greenwood later said “We knew it had to be the first song, and everything just followed after it.”
Kid A was released on October 2, 2000.
After the album was finished, the process of arranging the album for live performance brought new life to the band. In the 2000s, they were widely considered to be one of the best live bands on the planet.
Maybe you’re in an in-between time right now. Between past and future accomplishments.
Maybe your collaborators are feeling left cold.
But this is exactly the time that growth happens. It’s now that you do the work to find the new path. That you surprise and confuse and divide and push your followers.
Don’t give up just before a breakthrough.
Trust the process. Even in the in-between time. Even when you can’t see the finish line.
P.S. This newsletter was written to the soundtrack of Kid A (whole album), Aphex Twin, "Flim."