XL Vinyl & CDs

Review: The Smile is a new project from Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, which finds the Radiohead vets teaming up with Sons Of Kemet's Tom Skinner. The first the world caught wind of the band was during the live broadcast from the Glastonbury site in 2021, and since they've been trickling out tracks which now form their debut album, A Light For Attracting Attention. It's been produced by Radiohead's long time go-to guy Nigel Godrich, and it features a full brass section including the likes of Theon and Nathaniel Cross amongst others. Of course you can hear slithers of the 'Head in there, but it's also fascinating to hear Yorke and Greenwood stretching out in a different project without all the years of legacy behind them. The results are, predictably, magic.

Review: Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and Tom Skinner (Sons Of Kemet) finally deliver on their much-hyped The Smile project, blending the anxious and synaptic tones of Radiohead's anthemic indie-electro with the bluer party tones of UK jazz. The new album features a slew of tracks with swelling strings recorded by the full brass section of the London Contemporary Orchestra, as well as a band of jazz players like Theon and Nathaniel Cross and Robert Stillman.