The Smile – ‘Wall of Eyes’ review: a masterclass in pushing rock forward

23 January, 2024

The Smile

It does not feel like a stretch to suggest that The Smile are one of the finest and most inventive rock bands on the planet right now. This should come as little surprise: two of its members, Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, are key architects of Radiohead, while Tom Skinner has had success as the drummer of jazz troupe Sons Of Kemet. They are restless, connected and technically fabulous all across their second album ‘Wall Of Eyes’.

What started off as a ‘side-project’ to Radiohead now feels paramount to Yorke and Greenwood’s musical identity. It’s been eight years since the band’s last record ‘A Moon Shaped Pool’ – which felt like an ending anyway – with each member dabbling in solo projects, film scores and remixes. Teasers for a reunion, of which have been many, are yet to materialise. This summer, meanwhile, The Smile will play arenas and headline festivals, and have worked with Paul Thomas Anderson on a new string of music videos. You have to wonder if they enjoy this fresh canvas, unbeholden to the ‘day-job”s history and baggage.

On 2022’s ‘A Light For Attracting Attention’ their sonic identity was consolidated, a skittish marriage between wonky electronics and the occasional rock rager. ‘Wall Of Eyes’ is similarly expansive in its vision, but also restrained, carefully selecting moments where the intensity needs upping. Its opening title track packs a thump similar to Radiohead’s 2003 single ‘There, There’ but it instead opts for lush orchestration as opposed to the latter’s crackling ending; ‘Friend of A Friend’ is light on its feet and surprisingly intimate.

‘Bending Heretic’ – easily their strongest composition yet – embodies this new mindset: the trio leave space for each other, but aren’t afraid to step into it, either. It begins with Greenwood’s exploratory guitar riff, one that nudges the song forward despite its spangly form, while Yorke paints a vivid picture of a “‘60s soft top” inching through the “Italian mountainside”. They – and the listener with them – eventually slip off at a hairpin turn and the music meets the impending doom: at the five-minute mark, a graceful farewell gives way to sheer panic, as taut Psycho-esque strings swell and eventually crash at the moment of impact. “The ground is coming for me now,” Yorke warns, but blame is shared: “We’ve gone over the edge / If you’ve got something to say, say it now.”

It is a moment of sheer brilliance, one among many on ‘Wall Of Eyes’. Where previously the comparisons to their Radiohead catalogue could warp expectations, the breadth of the material on offer here suggest that it could, eventually, flip that dynamic right on its head.