Radiohead’s Unsettling ‘OK Computer’ Unboxing Video Marks The Return Of A Creepy Old Character

Radiohead is getting ready to release the box set version of OKNOTOK, their 20th anniversary re-release of 1997’s OK Computer; The vinyl edition came out in June, but the box set is just starting to ship out now. As Radiohead is wont to do, they’re promoting the release in an odd way, this time with a creepy unboxing video that shows distorted footage of an unsettling man named Chieftain Mews opening up the set with his black-nail-polish-emblazoned hands.

“Hello, my name’s Chieftan Mews. I’m unboxing,” he says before tingling the spine and adding, “I’m rigid with excitement.”

The character, a digital composite created by producer Nigel Godrich, comes from The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time, a collection of 24 short films released by Radiohead in 2004. Quick clips of Mews opened and closed all four episodes, and at the end of the DVD release, he even performs a William Shatner-style spoken word cover of “No Surprises”:

Mews popped up again in 2007, to end Radiohead’s “Thumbs Down” webcast, so he’s been a creepy not-actually-real guy for a long time now.

Watch the video above, and find more details about what the box set includes here. Also, revisit our take on why OK Computer is the best album of the past 20 years here.

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