This article first appeared in the February 2024 edition of The Commuter.
In The Smile’s music video for their song “Friend of a Friend” – directed by Paul Thomas Anderson – Thom Yorke and his bandmates perform in front of a crowd of children. As the song plays, some in the audience dance, one seems to roll his eyes, while others seem mesmerized by the trio’s hypnotizing sound.
Yorke’s lyrics are vague as ever but seem to stitch together a picture of life during the pandemic, while eerie strings fade in and out. The song ends, and as the children break into cheers, Yorke cracks a rare smile as the video fades to black.
There’s something striking about The Smile, the side project of two Radiohead members in Yorke and Jonny Greenwood as well as jazz drummer Tom Skinner, performing in such a simple setting. There’s no stage, elaborate light show, or roaring crowds as the typical Radiohead concert would feature. It’s clearly intentional – The Smile is a more laid back version of Radiohead, free of the expectations that come with being one of the most influential rock groups of the past 30 years.
The Smile’s excellent 2022 debut, “A Light for Attracting Attention,” made that clear, lacking the cohesiveness and grand nature of late Radiohead material. But it was still easily the most fun listen from Yorke and co. since Radiohead’s “In Rainbows” in 2007.
Thankfully, The Smile’s latest release, Jan. 26’s “Wall of Eyes,” continues that trend. It’s expertly produced and more moody than The Smile’s previous album, but it never loses the rough edges and free-flowing nature that made their previous record such a treat.
“Wall of Eyes” begins with its title track, which fades in with an acoustic bossa nova sound, juxtaposed with a 5/4 groove and distorted percussion in the background. Yorke’s haunting falsetto and a gorgeous string arrangement by Greenwood add a heavy sense of melancholy. It’s the first track of many on the project to end with a prolonged, almost ambient outro as the song unravels with dissonant guitar chimes. It’s the perfect opening track – representative of the feel of the album to come.
What follows is perhaps the biggest left turn of the album, “Teleharmonic,” built around a synth-sounding guitar effect and the closest thing a Radiohead-adjacent project will ever get to a reggaeton beat. It’s more hypnotic than danceable, however, as Yorke’s heavily layered vocals weave through instrumentation that can best be described by the album’s psychedelic artwork.
The band lets Jonny Greenwood loose on the following two tracks, and his angular riffs dance around Tom Skinner’s sophisticated, jazzy backbeats. The loud guitar that opens “Read the Room” immediately clashes with the last dreamy notes of “Teleharmonic,” and Yorke’s nasally vocals at the start are easily his weakest on the album. But the song’s chaotic atmosphere is instantly intriguing, and its outro, a distorted riff in 11/8, is lots of fun.
On “Under Our Pillows,” the band follows a similar route but soon pivots to a swirling outro in the final minutes. Skinner’s driving beat and a great bassline from Yorke keep the song’s momentum while Greenwood’s delay-heavy guitar is hard-panned in both ears. It’s an excellent song, but tracks such as “The Opposite” and “Thin Thing” from the band’s previous album scratch the same itch in a more compact, accessible way. But on “Wall of Eyes,” The Smile seems more interested in constructing soundscapes than anything resembling a radio single, which is reflected in the average track length of five minutes and 40 seconds.
That vision is realized best on the album’s closing four-track run, which includes two excellent, meditative tracks in “I Quit” and the album closer “You Know Me!” Both songs take their time as they slowly build with subtle instrumentation. The soaring string sections, muffled piano chords, and Yorke’s soft vocals aren’t immediately catchy, per se, but they’re expertly engineered for unwinding after a long day with eyes closed and headphones on – comforting, and free from the sinister undertones that permeate much of the tracklist.
The best two songs on the project are the aforementioned “Friend of a Friend” and the album’s lead single, “Bending Hectic.” The former is almost Beatles-esque in its bouncy rhythm section and piano-heavy instrumentation, but it’s a Thom Yorke song after all, and that comes with mixed time signatures and a chorus that ends with delay-heavy vocals. But the track’s progressive elements don’t feel forced at all, with an inviting melody and mixed meter that sounds entirely natural – as if the length of each bar was individually fine-tuned. It’s the perfect mix between experimentation and good-old-fashioned songwriting, balanced skillfully by one of the greatest musical minds working today.
While “Wall of Eyes” is full of gems, “Bending Hectic” shines the brightest. The first five-and-a-half of its eight-minute runtime are standard The Smile fare – that is, a beautiful melody accented by eerie guitar work by Greenwood. But it’s soon interrupted by a 30-second dissonant orchestral build that’s only broken once Greenwood stomps on his distortion pedal, ushering in a massive final chorus. Sure, the lyrics depict a car crash “down an Italian mountainside,” but the music is easily the most outrageous fun the band members have recorded in years. It’s emblematic of everything The Smile seems to stand for: veteran musicians letting loose and making the art that they want to create.
Like most of Radiohead and The Smile’s earlier work, “Wall of Eyes” isn’t the most immediate collection of songs. But give them time to grow. Yorke’s songwriting prowess and unmistakable vocals, along with Greenwood’s distinctive guitar-playing and ear for string arrangements, are combined perfectly under Skinner’s controlled, effortless percussion. It might’ve been a January release, but “Wall of Eyes” should already be a strong contender for one of the best albums of the year.
Album: “Wall of Eyes”
Band: The Smile
Producer: Sam Petts-Davies
Label: XL Recordings
Genre: Art rock, progressive
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
