And...they're back. Radiohead have just announced their eighth full-length record, The King of Limbs. Billed as the world's first "Newspaper Album," an extravagantly packaged version of the record will be issued on May 9; however, the music itself will effectively be issued on Saturday, February 19 when digital downloads become available to those who made pre-orders.

So Radiohead have set aside the "pay what you want" patronage model that dominated the conversation surrounding the In Rainbows release, yet have retained that album's more important business aspects: Packaging their music as a high-end collectable and controlling and monetizing its leak, which has the effect of creating what these days is a rare, worldwide, collective listening experience. Once again, we all know exactly when we're first able to hear a new Radiohead record and therefore will largely all experience it together, something almost completely lost in today's pop music landscape. This in effect is also what Kanye West did so successfully with his G.O.O.D. Friday project.

The King of Limbs will be released by TBD Records in North America, XL in the UK, and Hostess Entertainment in Asia. UPDATE: The album will be out March 29 in North America and March 28 everywhere else. It'll be available on CD, 12" vinyl, and digital download.

Full information is quoted below, and pre-orders are currently being accepted at Thekingoflimbs.com. At present there is no track information.

"Radiohead's new record, The King of Limbs, is presented here as the world's first* Newspaper Album, comprising:

Two clear 10" vinyl records in a purpose-built record sleeve.

A compact disc.

Many large sheets of artwork, 625 tiny pieces of artwork and a full-colour piece of oxo-degradeable plastic to hold it all together.

The Newspaper Album comes with a digital download that is compatible with all good digital media players.

The Newspaper Album will be shipped on Monday 9th May 2011 you can, however, enjoy the download on Saturday 19th February 2011.

Shipping is included in the prices shown.

One lucky owner of the digital version of The King of Limbs, purchased from this website, will receive a signed 2 track 12" vinyl.

*"perhaps"

In the U.S., the mp3 version of the newspaper album is $48 and the WAV version is $53. In the UK, the two sets are £30 and £33; in Europe, €36 and €39; and in the rest of the world.

A digital-only presale version is also available:

"Radiohead's new record, The King of Limbs, is presented here with a choice of two digital formats:

MP3 version is a 320K constant bit rate file.

WAV version is a full CD quality uncompressed digital audio file.

One lucky owner of the digital version of The King of Limbs, purchased from this website, will receive a signed 2 track 12" vinyl.

The King of Limbs can be pre-ordered now and downloaded on Saturday 19th February 2011."

In the U.S., this version is $9 for mp3s and $14 for a WAV version. In the UK, £6 and £9; in Europe, €7 and €11