Eye wall

The smile

Eye wall

XL

February 21, 2024
Web Exclusive

By Ben Jardine

At this stage, it would be a disservice to label Smile as a “Radiohead side project”. The trio – made up of Radiohead's Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood and Sons of Kemet's Tom Skinner – deserve better than this. The band is its own entity, and in their second full-length, The Smile return to a space only they can inhabit. It is a space characterized by a unique unease of opposing forces: the music is dense yet light, calculated yet somehow spontaneous, somber yet beautiful.

And yet, Eye wall it has all the hallmarks of a truly great Radiohead record. It bears the trademark Greenwood-off-kilter touches (guitar squeals and diligent multi-layered tinkering). There are Yorke's extended vocals that signal the coming apocalypse. There are explorations of genres spanning bossanova, prog, krautrock and jazz, and some distinct mix of all that was present on their 2022 debut A light to attract attention.

Despite its slimmer track count, Eye wall gives a punch. Just like its predecessor, the songs here stand alone as special entries in the Yorke-Greenwood catalogue.

A standout is “Read the Room,” an amorphous piece that changes time signatures and styles just as its narrator changes his attitude about the stimulus he endures in the world. “Under Our Pillows” is frenetic and bouncy like Radiohead's “Morning Mr. Magpie.” “Friend of a Friend” is much more than a stripped-down reflection on the corruption of the COVID era. it's a relaxing piece of cinema that's as sturdy as it is majestic. “I Quit” sounds like an idea left over from A pool in the shape of the Moon sessions, a fantastic farewell to the backdrop of pedal delays and symphonic breakdowns. And “Bending Hectic,” the eight-minute project about a racing driver climbing an Italian mountain, is finally getting an official album release.

Eye wall it's as good an effort as any Radiohead album and rivals the work its members have done on other projects. It is an absolute joy to watch the work of these artists, because their creative expression is a treasure. (www.thesmiletheband.com)

Author Rating: 9/10