Rating: 7.5/10

Unconventional album releases are a strange beast for Thom Yorke to grapple with. On one hand, they are nontraditional by their name and nature, but on the flip side, they are becoming increasingly paradigmatic and have lost shock value, the very point of an unusual method of delivery.

So how does Yorke, an always-experimenting musician whose capriciousness has come to define him, respond? That question assumes Yorke is a reactionary hipster practicing antiestablishmentism for its own sake, but based on the consistent quality of his output throughout the last quarter century, whether that be his own or his more noted work as the face of Radiohead, there is some sort of drive, something more than wanting to be different.

The ’90s version of Radiohead, the alternative rock juggernauts best known for “Creep,” wasn’t something Yorke wanted to be a part of, having made it clear on multiple occasions that he was a reluctant celebrity. Perhaps as an attempt to escape from the grips of prestige, Yorke led Radiohead into a new electronic frontier, unrelenting in his desire for experimentation. That resulted in the group’s longevity and their reputation as all-time great musical innovators.

As tends to happen with frontmen, Yorke needed another creative outlet for ideas that didn’t work as well in the context of his band as they would as their own enterprise. That lead to 2006’s “The Eraser,” Yorke’s debut solo effort that he described as “more beats and electronics,” taking the relatively new elements of Radiohead, expanding upon them and giving them greater stature.

Since then, Radiohead has released two albums and Yorke had essentially been silent about his bandmate-less work until he took to his Tumblr about a week ago and posted an unlabeled and unexplained photo of a blank, white vinyl record. Then came the announcement of the BitTorrent release, and just like that, Yorke’s second solo album was birthed.

Yorke’s solo work is a space away from but adjacent to Radiohead for exploring less accessible ideas, which is a wild thought, considering how deep in left field the group positions itself, especially on their most recent album, 2011’s “The King of Limbs,” a rhythmically complicated space for deep sonic layering.

To call “Boxes” a natural progression from “Limbs” is fair, but maybe slightly misrepresentative as well. It doesn’t necessarily sound like the next Radiohead album, but as part of Yorke’s mentality throughout his career as a whole, it makes perfect sense.

Yorke has been credited as playing the computer on previous albums more as an afterthought to vocals, lyrics and guitar, but the instrument deserves prominent billing here. “Boxes” is as electronic as Yorke has gotten, or to be more specific, as electronica as ever.

An issue that can crop up in any electronica album is accessibility. To be a successful work in an ambient-leaning genre, it must be able to work well under conditions of active and passive listening. Toeing the line between being in-your-face and being able to chill out in the background, often trying to do both at once, is a challenge, and Yorke accomplishes it most of the time.

There must be a central atmospheric theme that runs throughout to capture the mood, but within moods, there are more distinct feelings. Within happiness, there is satisfaction, glee, bliss, euphoria and others. In anger: rage, displeasure, irritability, aggravation. The low moments of “Boxes” serve the purpose of keeping the mood afloat and ultimately do not impedingly detract from the product, while the highlights establish identity and leave an impression.

“A Brain in a Bottle” draws from bass-led trip-hop. “There Is No Ice (For My Drink)” is head-bobbingly house-like. Album highlight “Truth Ray” is a mashing of high and low frequencies that refuse to meet in the middle but still work harmoniously together atop apprehensively hip-hop percussion.

These high points provide contrast to the cerebral and intendedly out-of-focus aura that is the bedrock of “Boxes,” which, at its worst is a fine example of percussive ambient music, and at its best, a faint taste of Radiohead’s most bewitching explorations.