The Smile - A Light for Attracting Attention ALBUM REVIEW
Sometimes all you have to do is smile, you know?
The idea behind The Smile is actually pretty good. You have two legends in the music business, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, teaming up with jazz band Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner to form a new band. They’ve spent the past year teasing some tracks live and even released some studio versions of them, but I’ve avoided them because I’ve been pretty excited about how this album would turn out. It ended up being a while, but we now have the first album from the group, A Light for Attracting Attention. Let’s get into how I felt about it.
It should be known that most of the Radiohead members’ side projects and even solo careers haven’t truly taken the world by storm like Radiohead has. Sure, Thom Yorke has his solo career and Jonny Greenwood’s film scores have been great, but they’ve never gotten the public eye gripped. I feel like The Smile is going to be the first side project that does this, mainly because this is as good as some of their Radiohead albums. There’s a lot of guitar here, similar to In Rainbows, and the technicality of the trio is unmatched. Honestly, if you want it in a more blunt way, this is Radiohead with a better drummer. Yorke and Greenwood are a pairing unlike any other, and they really thrive off each other. Tom Skinner’s drumming is just the icing on the cake. It really does feel like we’ve got a new Radiohead album with this, but it’s without the expectations that are set with a new release from the band. Overall, A Light for Attracting Attention knocks it out of the park. The Smile will go down as one of the best Radiohead offshoots with just one project.
9/10
Listen here
YouTube Music
A Light for Attracting Attention is an XL Recordings release.
The idea behind The Smile is actually pretty good. You have two legends in the music business, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, teaming up with jazz band Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner to form a new band. They’ve spent the past year teasing some tracks live and even released some studio versions of them, but I’ve avoided them because I’ve been pretty excited about how this album would turn out. It ended up being a while, but we now have the first album from the group, A Light for Attracting Attention. Let’s get into how I felt about it.
It should be known that most of the Radiohead members’ side projects and even solo careers haven’t truly taken the world by storm like Radiohead has. Sure, Thom Yorke has his solo career and Jonny Greenwood’s film scores have been great, but they’ve never gotten the public eye gripped. I feel like The Smile is going to be the first side project that does this, mainly because this is as good as some of their Radiohead albums. There’s a lot of guitar here, similar to In Rainbows, and the technicality of the trio is unmatched. Honestly, if you want it in a more blunt way, this is Radiohead with a better drummer. Yorke and Greenwood are a pairing unlike any other, and they really thrive off each other. Tom Skinner’s drumming is just the icing on the cake. It really does feel like we’ve got a new Radiohead album with this, but it’s without the expectations that are set with a new release from the band. Overall, A Light for Attracting Attention knocks it out of the park. The Smile will go down as one of the best Radiohead offshoots with just one project.
9/10
Listen here
YouTube Music
A Light for Attracting Attention is an XL Recordings release.
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