It may be unwise to prematurely wonder about the fate of Radiohead, still one of the most important bands in the world. But confronted by this assured, slinky and tuneful follow-up to 2022’s A Light for Attracting Attention, the Smile are categorically where Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood are expending their A-game energies right now – this pared-down, agile iteration of Yorke’s and Greenwood’s sound, abetted by Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner.
To A Light…’s funkiness and rage, Wall of Eyes adds psychedelia, 70s German motorik and the strings of the London Contemporary Orchestra. It’s a more considered, unspooling record, but maintains the Smile’s high bar. The band’s touring schedule has allowed this fresh Smile album to grow quite organically out of its predecessor. A number of songs destined for Wall of Eyes have been debuted live and worked into set lists over the past couple of years. Bending Hectic, Wall of Eyes’s nail-biting car-accident set piece, came out a year ago, ostensibly as a standalone. (A live album recorded at Montreux jazz festival was released in December 2022 followed by a 2023 limited-edition vinyl EP, Europe: Live Recordings.)
