CD of The Week

The Smile - Cutouts (XL)

The individual members of Radiohead have always been prolific artists, despite their main gig’s decreased output over the past two decades. Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood are workaholics, with their film scores, solo projects, and soundtrack work. This includes The Smile, their band with drummer Tom Skinner that has only been around for just over three years but now have three albums to their name, including two in 2024 alone. Their new record, Cutouts, was recorded at the same time as Wall of Eyes, but doesn’t feel like leftovers or B-sides. The easy comparison is Amnesiac to Kid A, but The Smile don’t morph and evolve album-to-album like Radiohead. They’ve built an amorphous sonic aesthetic that both comforts and surprises.

Cutouts opens with “Foreign Spies," which is all haunting keyboards and spooky vocals from Thom with pulsing Stranger Things-esque vibes lurking below. “Zero Sum” is one of their best songs yet, full of spiky energy and wild guitar work from Johnny, riding along a nimble beat from Skinner. It’s surely also the only song you’ll hear this year with multiple references to Windows 95 in the lyrics.

“Tiptoe” is maybe their jazziest and more lounge-influenced song, all full of lush strings and pianos, while “Eyes & Mouth” is built on skittering drums and nimble guitar and bass. “No Words” is a jamming rocker which does indeed have words. The funky groove of “The Slip” is another highlight of Cutouts. While Yorke’s lyrics are increasingly cryptic, evocative, and difficult to parse these days, “The Slip” certainly deals with environmental catastrophe and the oligarchs sending the planet hurtling in that direction: “You're gonna laugh, you're gonna sing / You're gonna bring the world down 'round your ears / While the temperature grows ugly.”

Cutouts wraps up with “Bodies Laughing,” one of the most straightforward tracks on the record. In fact, after noodling around a bit in the first half, the last third of the record is the most straight-ahead.

On Cutouts, The Smile once again prioritizes jazz-influenced experimentation and interesting sounds over song structures and catchy hooks for the most part. But if you’re a Radiohead fan and up for anything Yorke and Greenwood do at this stage in their career, Cutouts is guaranteed to raise a smile.
Review by Joey O.