Radiohead doesn’t play by familiar rules, so it wasn’t a surprise to see news this morning of a music video for the unreleased OK Computer track “I Promise.” Last month, the band announced OKNOTOK, a 20th-anniversary reissue of their iconic Grammy-winning album from 1997. OKNOTOK will feature a remastered version of the original album, plus B-sides and three previously unreleased tracks. Among those three tracks is “I Promise,” and its accompanying video, directed by Michal Marczak, is of a piece with the themes of ennui explored throughout OK Computer and Marczak’s All These Sleepless Nights. The video, not unlike Marczak’s three features to date, is a hybrid documentary-fiction, in this case a reverie about Warsaw in nighttime and all the lonely people, including a man-robot’s head, who absorb the Polish capital’s mundane wonders while riding a city bus. This uniquely immersive video attests to Marcak’s knack for empathetically homing in on the essence of archetypical figures, people and environments alike.
Watch the music video for “I Promise” below:
OKNOTOK comes out on June 23.
Since 2001, we've brought you uncompromising, candid takes on the world of film, music, television, video games, theater, and more. Independently owned and operated publications like Slant have been hit hard in recent years, but we’re committed to keeping our content free and accessible—meaning no paywalls or fees.
If you like what we do, please consider subscribing to our Patreon or making a donation.