The Smile - Wall of Eyes (CD)

The Smile — Radiohead bandmates Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood’s trio with drummer Tom Skinner — just released their debut album A Light For Attracting Attention last year.

Now, they’ve already got another one ready to go. The Smile’s second album is called Wall Of Eyes, and it’s coming out at the top of next year. The Smile have shared the album-opening title track, which has a music video from director Paul Thomas Anderson.

Back in March, we learned that the Smile were already deep in the process of recording album number two. In June, the band released the one-off single “Bending Hectic,” which will appear on the LP.

Notably, the band recorded the LP with producer Sam Petts-Davies, not with Yorke and Greenwood’s regular collaborator Nigel Godrich. They laid the tracks down in Oxford and at Abbey Road in London, and the London Contemporary Orchestra contributed string arrangements.

The song “Wall Of Eyes” is a light, lilting, insular piece of music that doesn’t have the same sweep as some of the Smile’s other music. Instead, it’s soft and graceful, with a growing sense of unease and discordance.

For the video, Paul Thomas Anderson, a man who’s collaborated extensively with both Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, films Thom Yorke in time-lapse as he moves through crowded streets and bars, his expression unchanging. Watch below.....

Tracklist:
1. Wall Of Eyes
2. Teleharmonic
3. Read The Room
4. Under Our Pillows
5. Friend Of A Friend
6. I Quit
7. Bending Hectic
8. You Know Me!