“Wall of Eyes” – The Smile

Album: Wall of Eyes

Artist: The Smile

Year: 2024

Genre: Art Rock

Grade: A

It’s easy to look at English art rock band The Smile, which consists of Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and Tom Skinner, as Radiohead Part Two: a suitable substitute in the event that A Moon Shaped Pool is the legendary parent-band’s final album. But such a viewpoint would severely downplay The Smile’s own singularity (as well as the importance of Colin Greenwood, Ed O’Brien and Philip Selway’s contributions to Radiohead). Their second LP, Wall of Eyes, is where The Smile fully separates and steps out of the shadow: this is a great and, most importantly, a unique album.

Even more so than their debut (A Light for Attracting Attention, 2022), Wall of Eyes incorporates disparate influences from a wide range of worldly sources — including West Asian melodies and Middle Eastern rhythms. It’s an amalgamation of all the things that Yorke and Greenwood have always wanted to try in Radiohead, finally with a clean slate and untethered from the trappings of alternative rock.

Not that Radiohead was ever “trapped”; they’ve been one of the most innovative and forward-thinking bands of the 21^st century, if not all time. Nevertheless, the sound of The Smile is simultaneously looser and knottier, more expansive yet at the same time simpler. The trio isn’t afraid to take risks: instead of every note and soundscape calculated and carefully concentrated through a rigorous quality control process, The Smile follow wherever their eclectic impulses lead them. They improvise rather than compose; jam instead of gel.

Skinner’s spacious drumming lets the music breathe, which allows Yorke and Greenwood to break structure. As a result, the songs patiently take all the time they need to stretch out: e.g. the brilliant extended codas of “Read the Room” and “Under Our Pillows.”

As far as Smile albums go, Wall of Eyes is an assured step above A Light for Attracting Attention, and as far as Radiohead-adjacent albums go, Wall of Eyes might equal or even surpass Hail to the Thief and The King of Limbs (maybe even A Moon Shaped Pool, too, though I’m not sure I’m ready to place it that high yet).

Whatever Yorke and Greenwood decide to do next, whether it’s devoting their full-time focus entirely to The Smile or regrouping for a new Radiohead album at some point in the unknown future, it’s a privilege that they are still actively making music.

Wall of Eyes is a terrific album.

NOTES & CHORDS

• Noticing quite a few prog elements throughout Wall of Eyes: notably the intricate angular Robert Fripp-esque guitar riffs in “Read the Room” and, especially, “Under Our Pillows.” I’m glad that art rock is alive and well and making quite a comeback in Great Britain.

• “Friend of a Friend” reminds me of Hunky Dory-era David Bowie, with lyrical piano and bass guitar that moves in tandem with Yorke’s acrobatic voice, along with some white-noise “Day in the Life” orchestra thrown in for good measure.

• The eight-minute mini-epic “Bending Hectic” is the high point of the album: a post-rock crescendo catharsis that is truly sublime. Imagine if Animal Collective’s “Banshee Beat” culminated in a massive overdriven electric guitar solo.

• “You Know Me!” is a perfect, understated, ambiguous closer à la “Videotape” and “True Love Waits.” It’s the type of song that keeps you coming back for more.

• There is no MVP of The Smile — all three members work together seamlessly and symbiotically, feeding off each other’s input like a great jazz group. Think the Bill Evans Trio or Red-era King Crimson.

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