Lotus Flower

The harmonic palette of 'Lotus Flower' is deliberately narrow — the song draws its tension from rhythm and timbre rather than chord movement. Anchored in F# minor (inferred), it loops a tonic-to-relative-major figure that Radiohead layers with polymetric handclaps and Yorke's falsetto. The consistent avoidance of a functional dominant cadence keeps the track in a state of unresolved forward motion, which is what led Rolling Stone to describe it as 'icy' funk. It is one of the more groove-centred pieces in Radiohead's catalogue, closer in spirit to electronic dance music than to the band's guitar-oriented work.

Thom Yorke first performed 'Lotus Flower' solo at the Echoplex in Los Angeles on 2 October 2009, while on tour with Atoms for Peace. He returned to it on acoustic guitar at the Music Box Theater in Hollywood on 24 January 2010, at a benefit concert Radiohead organised for Oxfam's Haiti earthquake relief. That show was released free online in December 2010 as Radiohead for Haiti. The full band arrangement credit all five members — Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, and Philip Selway — as co-writers, consistent with Radiohead's standard practice.

Released in February 2011 as the lead single from Radiohead's eighth album, 'Lotus Flower' bridges the electronic minimalism of Kid A with the warmer textures of In Rainbows. Produced by Nigel Godrich with all five band members credited as writers, it earned Grammy nominations in three categories. Its music video — Garth Jennings filming Yorke dancing erratically in black and white — went viral and sparked the '#thomdance' Twitter trend.