The Story
Thom Yorke assembled Atoms for Peace in 2009 to do something his 2006 solo album The Eraser had never done: play live as a full band. He recruited his longtime producer Nigel Godrich, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, R.E.M./Beck drummer Joey Waronker and Forró in the Dark percussionist Mauro Refosco — a rhythm section built by people who understood groove from the inside.
The band's name comes from a song title on The Eraser, which itself references Dwight D. Eisenhower's 1953 'Atoms for Peace' speech. After debuting live in October 2009 and touring the US through 2010, the group released its one studio album, Amok, in 2013 on XL Recordings — a record that carried the same rhythmic obsession into fully collaborative songwriting.
Amok reached No. 5 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 2 on the Billboard Alternative Albums chart, and drew comparisons to Yorke's solo work while standing as something distinct: warmer, groovier, built by five specific musicians rather than one.
The band toured through 2013 and has been dormant since, with every member's other projects — Radiohead, the Chili Peppers, Godrich's production work — remaining very much alive.
