Airbag

The story behind

When you dive into *Airbag*, you encounter an opening that takes you out of the ordinary. It's not a calm start; it throws you straight into an energy that makes you think about life after a scare. The idea behind the title, which was originally "An Airbag Saved My Life," comes from something that Thom Yorke read on a flyer he received in the mail. It's a curious reference, almost a nod to a 1983 hit called *Last Night a DJ Saved My Life*. But beyond the name, what truly defines this piece is its sound. The band experimented a lot with the drums, taking a short fragment of Phil Selway's percussion and manipulating it with a computer to sound similar to what DJ Shadow did. Jonny Greenwood says that Thom and Phil spent a whole day playing with those sounds, searching for that particular texture. Phil himself admits that, although they didn't achieve exactly what they were looking for, the result ended up being something interesting. Thom describes it as that feeling of realizing you've avoided a serious accident, and the euphoria that comes afterward, almost as if every time you got out of a car, you'd shout that you're alive and your day is starting anew.