KID A MNESIA

KID A MNESIA is the 20th anniversary re-release of Radiohead’s fourth and fifth albums, Kid A and Amnesiac. Though they were released separately in 2000 and 2001 respectively, Kid A and Amnesiac were conceived in the same recording sessions and marked the band’s abrupt left turn from guitar-based alternative rock to more experimental and electronic music.

The reissue contains the two original albums, in addition to Kid Amnesiae, a collection of demos and unreleased tracks including the mysterious “C-minor song”, released here as “If You Say the Word”. Unlike the 20th anniversary reissue of OK Computer from 2017, KID A MNESIA’s bonus disc does not feature any of the B-sides from the era.

Having been teased since 2019, the compilation was eventually announced through a cryptic video which featured a pair of hands clumsily taping together CD copies of the two albums to the soundtrack of Amnesiac’s “Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box”, perhaps referring to how Kid A and Amnesiac are being similarly “packed” together. The black fingernails indicate that the hands belong to Chieftan Mews, a character who has appeared in several of Radiohead’s promotional videos and social media posts. The announcement was also accompanied by the release of the aforementioned, previously-unheard “If You Say the Word”.

KID A MNESIA comes in several formats, including a 3CD version, a limited edition red vinyl LP, and Kid Amnesiette, a double cassette edition that also features five of the era’s B-sides: “Kinetic”, “Fast-Track”, “Cuttooth”, “The Amazing Sounds of Orgy” and “Trans-Atlantic Drawl”. Two books of artwork and lyric sketches by frontman Thom Yorke and art director Stanley Donwood are also due to be released alongside the album.