Mark Pritchard and Thom Yorke’s collaborative album Tall Tales features twelve songs with a total running length of just over an hour. The recording process started during the pandemic, with the two sharing work online, and Pritchard has also stated that one of the tracks on the LP is nine years in the making.

However, even with the collaborative influence of Thom Yorke (Radiohead, The Smile), the album is far from perfect. The songs can be captivating, instantly bringing you into the sonic world of Tall Tales, but a criticism often encountered is that they can run on too long. Some of the songs can overstay their welcome, as seen very quickly with the opener ‘A Fake in a Faker’s World’. An eight-minute track that could easily be condensed down to four minutes

The eponymous song is another letdown. For an immersive listen of the entire record, it justifies itself slightly more; however, it is ultimately a lacklustre song that follows one of the more interesting ones on the entire project, seemingly uninterested in trying to argue its place on the album. The sudden whiplash in quality is shocking and only emphasises the curious placement and decision to keep it overall.

Its aim of creating an eerie, slightly ominous atmosphere doesn’t land, coming across instead as too cheesy and heavy-handed in the attempt. This is a stark contrast to a song like “Ice Shelf”, which is fully mesmerising and deeply foreboding, managing to be an enjoyable listen that is able to land a vivid sense of dread and uneasiness. The oscillating waves of sound that fill “Ice Shelf” and the staggered vocals at the end ensure the track is memorable and haunting.

There’s also lightness on the LP. ‘Bugging Out Again’ features mystical vocals, the same as “Back in the Game”, which is a bit more energetic and upbeat. There’s a focus on Yorke’s singing and not just the electronic production, and the twist at the end of the latter track reintroduces that apprehensive and uneasy approach. “The White Cliffs” continues this ethereal, lighter approach, especially in the vocals and keys, and ends up being a standout and atmospheric song on the record, justifying the length entirely. There’s a change in the follow-up “The Spirit”, where any kind of vocal effects are stripped away to create a more vulnerable and true-to-life take on Yorke’s singing. These two, especially back-to-back, are some of the strongest pieces of work created for the LP, with the merging of electronic instrumentals, often ambient, and Yorke’s lyricism and vocals working beautifully together.

However, it’s weakened by moments like ‘Gangsters’ and “Happy Days”. “Gangsters” has less going for it and is ultimately just forgettable and lacks any immersive qualities, but ‘Happy Days’ is overzealous in its juxtaposition of upbeat, tongue-in-cheek lyricism and the electronic presence. It doesn’t work at all, sticking out like a sore thumb and sounding like a terribly remixed Madness (an 80s British Ska band known for hits like “Baggy Trousers” and “Our House”) song. The effect on the listener leaves a cheesy impression, and also one of disbelief that it managed to make it onto the album.

“This Conversation is Missing Your Voice” is perhaps the duo’s best work. Masterfully blending the two artists with the electronic production working hand-in-hand with Yorke’s singing, it stands out as a fun and bouncy track. Even as a shorter song on the record, it works to hypnotise the listener and roots itself firmly in their brain.

The album closes with the five and a half minute “Wandering Genie”, an otherworldly experience that utilises a church choral vibe with the echoing of voices to imitate a large expanse. It’s enthralling, atmospheric and also undoubtedly eerie. It helps to bring the record together in a full circle moment as it evokes the suspense and the eeriness of the earlier tracks while also showing progression with there being a more hopeful sound with the echoing and layered vocals.

Tall Tales doesn’t always work, and some of the low moments unfortunately weaken the entire project considerably, but when it does work and the symbiotic relationship between Pritchard and Yorke comes together, it feels natural and worthwhile. Songs like ‘Back in the Game’, ‘The White Cliffs’ and ‘This Conversation is Missing Your Voice’ stand out as truly phenomenal songs, enough to provide a strength to the LP that is desperately needed and ultimately make the record a worthwhile listen to overall; if even just for those songs.

Order Tall Tales HERE