Jonny Greenwood says The Smile have “a big backlog of ideas” for new music
The Smile have “a big backlog of ideas” for new music, according to their guitarist Jonny Greenwood.
The band – Greenwood, his Radiohead bandmate Thom Yorke, and former Sons Of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner – released their debut album ‘A Light For Attracting Attention’ in 2022. Earlier this year they confirmed that work had begun on a follow-up.
Now, Greenwood has told Consequence that the band are “still firing off each other” and “wanna keep moving forward” with new music.
“The frustration of having not had access to playing in a band for a couple of years [has] just built up a big backlog of ideas,” he said. “We’re still firing off each other, and it feels productive. So, while that’s happening, we just wanna keep moving forward, I think.”
Of their debut album, he added: “We were doing a lot of the songs live, and we’ve made some faithful recordings of those.
“I think [the record is about] the whole dynamic of three people and the limits that you have… and trying to enjoy that and work within them.”
The band have already debuted some new songs live on tour.
They played a new song called ‘Bending Hectic’ at Montreux Jazz Festival in July, the lyrics of which Thom Yorke said had been written “about half an hour” before they were due to play. They also debuted three other songs throughout the summer while on tour in Europe: ‘Bodies Laughing’, ‘Friend Of A Friend’ and ‘Colours Fly’.
The band will return to North America for a string of 18 shows, which includes their first ever gig in Mexico City. You can see the full list of dates below and buy tickets here.
JUNE 2023
21 – Mexico City, Auditorio Nacional
22 – Mexico City, Auditorio Nacional
25 – Austin, TX, ACL Live at The Moody Theater
29 – Miami, FL, James L. Knight Center
30 – St Augustine, FL, The Saint Augustine Amphitheatre
JULY 2023
02 – North Charleston, SC, North Charleston Performing Arts Center
03 – Asheville, NC, Thomas Wolfe Auditorium
05 – Richmond, VA, The National
07 – Forest Hills, NY, Forest Hills Stadium
08 – Philadelphia, PA, Franklin Music Hall
10 – Pittsburgh, PA, Stage AE
11 – Cleveland, OH, Agora Ballroom
15 – Laval, QC, Canada, Place Bell
19 – Kansas City, MO, Midland Theatre
20 – Chesterfield, MO, The Factory
The post Jonny Greenwood says The Smile have “a big backlog of ideas” for new music appeared first on NME.
Will Richards
NME
