Cutouts - The Smile: Review

Review by Lavender:

The Smile is a supergroup consisting of Radiohead members Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood alongside Sons Of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner. After debuting in 2022 the project quickly returned with new singles in 2023 and a new album early this year. But that's nothing compared to how quickly they're back now. The band's third album Cutouts arrives less than 9 months after it's predecessor and yet that short amount of time allowed the band to once again lead off the album with a series of massively acclaimed singles. 

And let's talk about those singles, because they're great. First came "Don't Get Me Started" which emerged in a time where I wasn't expecting to hear from The Smile and just blew me away. The opening synth lines flashing between channels is so enticing and every sound in the song just seems to bounce back and forth forever into this massive space. It's such a chilling song that's so isolating and magnetic. Closing the record off is the finale single "Bodies Laughing" which came just a few days before the album itself. It may not specifically leap out of the mix but I'm a bit fan of the way the acoustic guitar is recording where you can seemingly feel every little movement. It also has a really convincing build-up that's totally enveloping and helps it work as a good finale to the whole album. 

But at the beginning of the record, a pair of singles released in between pop up. "Foreign Spies" kicks the album off with these eerie keys that take over the entire mix. They sound so chilling and unnatural but contrast with Thom's singing so well once the verses begin. I love the way the song is played with such a calm demeanor but the lyrics chillingly detail a surprise betrayal and paranoia. It's a stunning start to the record. The B-side of that single was "Zero Sum" an even more surprising cut. It's a Krautrock flavored jam with playful little percussion and these frenetic proggy guitar leads that are so bouncy and infectious. Plus Thom delivers what might be his most playful vocal performance in decades and I can't get enough of it all. 

That playfulness pops up on some of the record's best deep cuts. "Colours Fly" has this wonky bassline and Thom's vocals just reverberate forever out into space. It reaches this strange climax with soaring squeals and dizzying drum fills that really brings everything together right at the end. That leads directly into "Eyes & Mouth" which has these sizzling guitar arpeggios backed by piano keys. It has a push and pull that also reminds me a lot of certain krautrock influences and I love it. Finally there's "The Slip." In line with the kooky and playful stylings this song serves up an excellent array of kooky drum sounds. Around the midpoint it gets these bouncy early Smith's-sounding surf rock guitars and Thom perks his vocal sup alongside them to absolutely great results. 

Cutouts has just as many highlights as the first two Smile records, but what may be even more impressive is its ability to avoid low points. "Instant Psalm" has grown on me a bit after I reacted to the nursery rhyme cadence of the verses backed by acoustic guitar negatively. But once the song swells into its chorus things improve a lot and the versatile array of instrumentation really works to help sell it. "TipToe" is the record's stark piano ballad, something the band has been pretty inconsistent at landing across their first two albums. It's better than some of their prior efforts for the texture of the keys alone, even if it's not one of my favorite songs here. Then there's "No Words" one of the only songs on the record that just feels forgettable. It doesn't sound bad to listen to, but it fails to separate itself from the general motifs that pop up in more memorable ways throughout the rest of the record on other songs. 

Cutouts is extremely impressive and may be the peak of a burst of creativity from Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood. The pair have been busy and it was just earlier this year that I said the second Smile record surpassed the quality of the first one. Now I'm happy to report that the third release has done so again. With a newfound playfulness and spreading of influences the band is sounding fresh and lively in a way that allows them to flex their talents as instrumentalists even more. It's no surprise that the result feels jammy in that lively and unpredictable way great musicians tend to when they get together. The Smile came through with a pretty short turnaround but they're nowhere near running out of ideas, in fact, I think they're hitting with some of their best material yet. 8/10

For more Smile, check out my review of their album Wall Of Eyes from earlier this year