Nigel Godrich’s long-running music performance series From the Basement is set to return with new episodes featuring Warpaint, Nilüfer Yanya, Caribou, Sons of Kemet, and Squid. IDLES will open the show with its first installment on June 1st.
In a statement, the longtime Radiohead producer, who once again produced the entire program, shared: “What a pleasure it has been doing this again! I’m still just a fan, still super excited to have the opportunity to film all these great artists and have loved making these new shows. After being so busy doing other things I felt that the time was right to rekindle this idea… to somehow bring it into the present, but the same rules apply now as they did then… no audience or presenter… just a direct connection with the viewer and a chance for us to take some time to do something special in a controlled environment. The priority being to make it sound and look great.”
Regarding their premiere performance for the relaunched series, IDLES frontman Joe Talbot said, “There’s an atmosphere on From the Basement that I haven’t seen equalled; it’s unlike anything else. There’s a sense of mythology behind it and it’s a dream for us to be involved. We’ve wanted to do this for a very long time.”
The first episode will be released on June 1st at 6:00 p.m. BST via From the Basement’s YouTube channel, with new entries running through October. Watch the latest season’s trailer below.
The latest iteration of the series comes in collaboration with Sonos Radio and the workflow tools company WeTransfer. Following each episode, Sonos Radio will host the full audio recording on its new From the Basement station, while WeTransfer Premium and Pro subscribers will gain access to an additional song performance and artist materials via its digital arts platform WePresent.
Godrich gained widespread acclaim for the independent web series with a pair of intimate performances from Radiohead, 2008’s In Rainbows: From the Basement and 2011’s King of Limbs: Live from the Basement, and further built up a catalog that boasts the likes of The White Stripes, Sonic Youth, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Iggy and the Stooges, PJ Harvey, and more. Godrich announced in 2020 that the full archive would be uploaded to YouTube, though that process seems to have slowed since. In 2021, it was added to The Coda Collection, Amazon Prime Video’s subscription channel for music documentaries and archival live music content.
Meanwhile, Godrich recently assisted Thom Yorke & Co. once again thanks to the Radiohead frontman’s side project The Smile with Jonny Greenwood and Tom Skinner (of Sons of Kemet). The Smile released their debut album A Light for Attracting Attention in May.