Update: Radiohead Reveal New The King of Limbs Art, Start Tweeting in Japanese

Leah Collins, Dose.ca
February 18, 2011 3:14 PM

Radiohead, here styled as a carnival-visting family posing for one of those old-timey portraits, release new album The King of Limbs Saturday, Feb. 19.

Photo by: Sebastian Edge/At Ease

[Update: Radiohead debuted their new album and video a day early. See the video here, and read our album review here.]

It's been a countdown without the aid of constant (and pointless) video clips (see: Britney Spears) nor un-ending self-promoting Tweets (see: Lady Gaga). Still, since Radiohead announced Monday that they'd have a new album -- The King of Limbs -- ready to download by Saturday, Feb. 19, a certain contingent of pop fans has started counting sleeps and ticking off days.

As of today, there are two new tidbits to help bolster excitement for the countdown: the first promo art for Radiohead's eighth studio release (see the old-timey shot above) and a mysterious Tweet that has led to rumours of the band doing a surprise appearance in Tokyo this Friday.

Let's address that Tweet first. Sent off via Radiohead's official Twitter account earlier today, the message is printed in Japanese.

The NME, proving that Thom Yorke didn't just accidentally change the language settings on his laptop, translated the post, and as per their report it reads: "Hachiko Square Shibuya, 59 minutes at 18 Friday." This, in turn, has led to rumours the British band will appear in said square, one of the most crazy-busy spots in the already crazy-busy Japanese city.

Since then, a rep for the band has squashed the speculation, telling NME: "The band will not be in Japan tomorrow so people should not go to Shibuya expecting to see the band in person."

What we do know about the new Radiohead release are all the various ways you can add The King of Limbs to your record collection. As per the band's shock announcement Monday, it will become available for download Saturday, Feb. 19. Not a pay-as-you-will (i.e. free) scheme like the band's previous album, 2007's In Rainbows, an MP3 version of the new album can be purchased for $9. Presale is already going on via the band's official website.

Physical copies of the disc will be shipped May 9 -- and the record can be purchased as what Radiohead is claiming to be "the world's first Newspaper Album." So, going off the official description, it's basically a vinyl record sleeve that folds out like a newspaper. (And you thought newspapers -- and the music industry -- were dead.)

Earlier this week, the band's manager Chris Hufford told the NME that the sudden release of The King of Limbs was a "logical progression" for the band.

"Our allegiances are to the band," Hufford told the magazine. "We manage Radiohead, we don't manage retail or labels, we just manage the band and are just trying to do the best possible thing to allow another brilliant record to be embraced by the fanbase."