Radiohead Producer Nigel Godrich Starts New Band Ultraista

You’ve enjoyed his production work for artists such as Radiohead, Beck and Paul McCartney. Now you can experience the song stylings of Nigel Godrich as a recording artist in his own right: he’s gone and started a band, dubbed Ultraista, with in-demand session drummer Joey Waronker and vocalist Laura Bettinson.

The trio’s first offering, titled ‘smalltalk,’ is available for your audiovisual enjoyment via the clip below, which will, if nothing else, give your monitor’s brightness and color saturation settings a workout. Featuring Bettinson’s vocals floating over skittering drums and a dreamy bed of typically Godrich-ian synths, it should draw in fans who enjoyed his work on ‘OK Computer’ but still crave a little good old-fashioned melody once in awhile.

As for the band name? It seems to have been inspired by the Ultraist movement, which took root among Spanish poets and authors in the early 20th century. What that has to do with a four-minute pop song is for them to know and us to figure out. In the meantime, hit play on ‘smalltalk,’ visit the band’s website, and look forward to more from Ultraista.

Watch Ultraista’s ‘smalltalk’ Video