The Smile - A Light For Attracting Attention

Back in 2016, Radiohead, being the rock behemoth they are, released lead single ‘Burn The Witch’ with little fanfare apart from the usual cryptic hints with parent album A Moon Shaped Pool following days later.

In contrast, The Smile have been wilfully drip-feeding releases from their debut album for months, to the point where half of it was freely available prior to its arrival last week.

It’s for the consumer (or the marketing departments) to decide which approach is more effective, but the element of surprise built from The Smile’s debut at Worthy Farm last year has undoubtedly been stifled.

Of course, The Smile are ostensibly a ‘new’ band, but anyone with ears will discern otherwise. Two fifths of Radiohead (Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood) along with ‘sixth’ member, producer Nigel Godrich, make up the group along with Sons Of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner.

Unsurprisingly it sounds a lot like Radiohead, although anything that features Yorke’s distinctive voice does so by default. With that shocking revelation out of the way, does A Light For Attracting Attention stand on its own two feet?

https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2022/05/review-the-smile-light-for/