Into The Music
Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood has announced a 2026 tour in support of his expanded work with the London Contemporary Orchestra, featuring new arrangements of music from his film score catalog alongside pieces from his classical composition work. The dates represent the most extensive live presentation of Greenwood’s non-Radiohead output to date.
Greenwood has built a parallel career as a film composer that has become one of the more significant in contemporary cinema. His scores for Paul Thomas Anderson’s films, including There Will Be Blood, The Master, Inherent Vice, Phantom Thread, and Licorice Pizza, have established him as a composer working in a tradition that includes Bernard Herrmann and Ennio Morricone without sounding like either of them. The BAFTA and Academy Award recognition that has followed confirms that the attention is not limited to Radiohead’s existing fanbase.
The London Contemporary Orchestra, with whom he has collaborated extensively, has been central to the realization of both his film work and his concert pieces. The 2026 tour will feature expanded configurations of the ensemble and will include world premiere performances of new works alongside the recognized pieces from the film scores.
Greenwood occupies an unusual position as an artist who is simultaneously one of the most celebrated members of one of the most celebrated rock bands and a composer with a distinct body of work that would stand entirely on its own. The 2026 tour is the fullest expression of that second career to date.
I have been a Jonny Greenwood fan since my older cousin played me Kid A in 2001 and I didn’t understand it at all but couldn’t stop listening. His film scores brought me into a whole new relationship with orchestral music, and now seeing him tour with the London Contemporary Orchestra doing new arrangements , honestly I don’t care where the shows are, I’m figuring out how to be in that room!
Cassie , the LCO collaboration is interesting from a pure audio engineering standpoint too. Contemporary orchestral recording is a completely different problem than rock or even traditional classical, especially in live settings. I’d be genuinely curious what mic placement and spatial processing they’re using for a touring show , getting that ensemble clarity in a large room without the bleed issues that kill string definition is not a solved problem.
Look, I respect what Greenwood does but can we talk about the fact that Radiohead have been on indefinite hiatus while their members do increasingly niche side projects? Not complaining about the music itself , the LCO stuff is genuinely stunning , but it’s a little frustrating that the band that defined a generation of listeners can’t be bothered to put out a record together while Jonny’s out here doing film scores and orchestral rearrangements. Just say you’ve broken up. It’s fine. We can handle it.
I’ll be honest, Radiohead was never really my world , the East LA soundtrack I grew up with didn’t have much room for Thom Yorke. But I’ve heard the There Will Be Blood score and that changed my opinion of Greenwood considerably. That score has real darkness and tension in it, the kind that doesn’t need to announce itself. I can respect that even if it’s not where I live musically.