It is often said that the key to a good jazz trio is the musicians’ ability to converse with one another while performing. Each instrumentalist has a unique voice, and they allow one another ample time to speak throughout a piece. Given Tom Skinner’s jazz background, it wouldn’t be a stretch to assume he’s brought this mentality to The Smile, perhaps his greatest contribution to the band. The mastery of this skill is evident throughout The Smile’s fantastic new LP, “Cutouts.” This record shows that The Smile is far more than just a Radiohead offshoot, and it’s much more than a mere collection of B-sides, as some fans have suggested. Instead, we have a meticulously composed, sequenced, and produced record that sprawls over many colors and moods.

The album opens with two devastatingly beautiful pieces. The opener, “Foreign Spies,” highlights Jonny Greenwood’s incredible composition skills, as he creates a symphonic soundscape of synths, providing the perfect backdrop for Thom Yorke’s angelic voice. This serves as an excellent prelude to the album highlight, “Instant Psalm.” The full band, acoustically driven second track is sure to please fans of Radiohead’s earlier material. The pedal tone of the song lures you into a meditative state, while the acoustic guitars keep things interesting with suspensions and colorful chordal tones. It isn’t until the 2:02 mark that we get what feels like our first chord change, a release of beautifully orchestrated strings, hinting at a dark night awaiting an absent sunset. This feeling is further highlighted by some of Yorke’s most raw and honest lyrics with The Smile: “emptiness has many forms, the only thing is to listen, it has many forms and loneliness is a way to drown.”

The album wastes no time taking off from here. The chromatic wailing guitars of “Zero Sum” perfectly encapsulate what it feels like to live in a world dominated by technology, as Yorke somehow turns the phrase “Windows 95” into a catchy earworm. Directly following is the haunting “Colours Fly,” which is seemingly about changing one’s mind to let their true self show.  Musically the song is one of the more experimental on the record with a 5/4 time signature and a chord progression that wouldn’t feel out of place on some of their writing from “Hail to the Thief.”

When discussing the conversational nature of the record, it would be impossible not to mention “Eyes & Mouth.” As each instrument enters, it brings something unique to say. The song starts with Skinner’s most aggressive drumming with The Smile to date, swiftly followed by Greenwood’s flailing guitar. Incredibly, when the keyboard enters, it transforms the context of the guitar parts into what feels like a completely new mood. Finally, the bass guitar joins, and the song takes its full form. Each part of the song defines what the others are saying—a masterclass in songwriting and a great centerpiece for the record.

It seems intentional that Side B of the record starts with two quieter songs, much like Side A. “Don’t Get Me Started” is a synth-dominated song, similar to “Foreign Spies,” while the hypnotic “Tip Toe” creates a trance like feel, much like “Instant Psalm.” However, these songs don’t sound alike, it’s their function in the sequencing is what makes them special. They set up what’s to come while still being incredibly strong songs on their own. These tracks add emotional depth to the record and prepare the listener for the sonically darker moods that follow.

When Yorke introduced The Smile, he described the band as “not the smile as in haha, but more like the guy who lies to you every day.” In its moodiness and lyricism, no song better encapsulates this feeling than “The Slip.” With lyrics like “you’re gonna give us the slip tonight, out through the keyhole, open like you’re the hole in the ozone,” the song feels like a nod to the dangers of climate change deniers. The imagery of a “black hole” pulling everything down, paired with lines like “staring into infinity as if you cannot see” and “you’re gonna bring the world down round your ears while the temperature grows ugly,” evokes the feeling of impending environmental disaster, while people either remain ignorant or refuse to acknowledge the problem.

A big question for many fans leading up to this album was what “No Words” would sound like. The band had road tested most of the material from the record, but this was the one song no one knew anything about. “No Words,” which sits in the penultimate spot on the record, functions similarly to tracks like “Jigsaw Falling Into Place” or “We Don’t Know What Tomorrow Brings.” That comparison alone suggests it’s one of the stronger songs on the record. A driving force of glitchy polyrhythms and guitar licks, this song is sure to become a fan favorite.

“Where I End and You Begin” is something that could be said about “Cutouts” and “Wall of Eyes.” “Cutouts” closes with an arrangement of “Bodies Laughing” that’s comparable to the title track of their last album, “Wall of Eyes.” Given that both albums were cut from the same sessions, this is likely a nod to the connection between the two records, creating the feeling of having come full circle.

There are many ways people view The Smile. Some see them as a lesser version of what Radiohead could be doing. To those fans, I challenge you to listen to the band on this record as their own distinct entity. Focus on how in sync these three musicians are and the strength of their chemistry. While I can’t predict if they will release more music in the future, I’m confident in saying they’ve created a trilogy worthy of their musical legacies.

Rating: 9.4/10 

Release date: 10/4/24

Tracklist 

1. Foreign Spies 

2. Instant Psalm

3. Zero Sum

4. Colours Fly

5. Eyes & Mouth

6. Don’t Get Me Started

7. Tiptoe

8. The Slip

9. UGcgWGFkcWE= (No Words)

10. Bodies Laughing

Written by Bryan Williams