With a simple post of "Thank You For Waiting" on their website, Radiohead announced this morning that their next album, The King of Limbs, will be released this weekend. It'll be available digitially this Saturday, February 19, with deluxe-edition physical copies available in May. Their eighth LP, once again produced by Nigel Godrich, is being billed by the band as "the world's first Newspaper Album."

Like In Rainbows, The King of Limbs is being released digitally first. Unlike that album, it will not follow the pay-what-you-will model. Instead, the band is taking pre-orders on thekingoflimbs.com for both digital only and Newspaper Album editions. The elaborate Newspaper Album version will shipped May 9, but you still get to download it on Saturday, and it'll run you $48 for mp3 quality and $53 for WAV; digital copies cost $9 for mp3, and $14 for WAV.

TBD and XL are handling the release in the U.S. and U.K., and the album will be out in regular old CD format on March 28 in the U.K. We'll let you know if that date extends to the U.S., as well.

Here are the full details on the release, from thekingoflimbs.com:

"Newspaper Album - PRESALE
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"

"Digital Only - PRESALE
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."