Familial

2010 solo album from Radiohead drummer Philip Selway. The seeds of Selway's solo album were to a degree planted back in 2001 when Neil Finn organized an impromptu gathering of talent, including Radiohead's Ed O'Brien and Selway, in aid of charity. Back home a few years later, Selway asked Courtyard Studios' resident engineer and producer Ian Davenport to help produce some sessions. Then Selway invited Germano, Steinberg, Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche and multi-instrumentalist Patrick Sansone to come and make a record with him. Selway writes ballads not defined by folk, but something much wider and more contemporary. Curiously, there's very little defined drums in many of his songs, with more percussive loops/textures. Sometimes the beats and instrumental colors are so subtle, it sounds like the acoustic air in the room is setting the mood. It leaves space for the lyrics, which clearly come from the most intimate of places.