Although their other band, Radiohead, may not have released anything in eight years, Jonny Greenwood and Thom Yorke – alongside Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner – seem to have struck a rich vein of form as the Smile. Cutouts, their second album of 2024, was recorded during the same sessions as January’s impressive Wall of Eyes, and there’s no let up in quality. Yorke’s words are typically full of foreboding (“Emptiness has many forms”, “We can’t escape”, “Joyless bones devoured by ants” – although Zero Sum may be the only song released this year to feature repeated mentions of Windows 95 in its lyrics), but there is still a lightness to the accompanying soundscapes, Skinner allowing the band to swing in a way that Radiohead rarely have.
The punchy The Slip aside, none of these intricately crafted songs is particularly immediate, but repeated listening allows each to reveal its charms. The propulsive No Words is driven by an irresistibly sinuous bassline and motorik beat; Don’t Get Me Started comes in on an ominously lurching keyboard motif before Skinner’s skittering polyrhythms take centre stage; closer Bodies Laughing is a relatively straightforward ballad, but no less moving for its simplicity. More, please.
