Since releasing “A Light for Attracting Attention” last year, The Smile haven’t slowed down and are now preparing to release their next album in early 2024 (perhaps being a trio gives them the benefit of moving a little faster than Radiohead). “Wall of Eyes,” the second song to be released from the album, showcases their more cinematic, atmospheric side, a subtle bossa nova that gradually builds out into an eerie art-pop slow-burner with elements of Radiohead’s most subtly intense moments on “A Moon Shaped Pool”. Where the fun of the band’s first set of songs was its immediacy, it’s thrilling to hear them evolve into something even more nuanced and layered, revealing new and repeatedly rewarding aspects to this still-new(ish) band of art-rock vets.
On their debut, the Smile sounded revitalized and even impatient, managing to cram together disparate influences with an emphasis on groove. Its follow-up finds no use in harnessing the frenetic energy of tracks like ‘You Will Never Work in Television Again’, but it doesn’t mean their restlessness has subsided. For a record that can generally be described as more subdued than its predecessor, it’s strange how unsettled its restraint feels, each eerie detail and unresolved conclusion appearing to inch them out of, rather than sinking into, the ideal of graceful maturity. There’s no sense of complacency on “Wall of Eyes”, which abounds with proof of a band alive with ideas, curiously bending them to shape until it’s no longer of service.
From Wall of Eyes, out January 26th via XL Recordings
The Fat Angel Sings 