After almost a full year of snippets and teasers coming from Radiohead/Sons of Kemet collab The Smile, things are finally starting to come through with relative consistency. Last May, they debuted the band with a slot on Live at Worthy Farm and then nothing really happened until January when “You Will Never Work In Television Again” was released. Now though, we have a 2nd single, “The Smoke”, and a massive European tour with 4 sold-out UK dates. Today, we get our 3rd taster of the album. You can listen to The Smile’s version below.
“Skrting On The Surface” may have been shown before, during the trio of gigs the band played at the end of January, but die-hard Radiohead fans might have clocked that this is, in fact, a reworking of an unreleased Radiohead track from 2009. Aside from the distinct time signature change, from 4/4 to 15/16, the song follows a borderline standard song structure. The joy of it comes from the underlying Radiohead influence, without the overwhelming pressure of having to write “a Radiohead song”. Which of course will inevitably come with people wanting, and hoping, for the best new thing since sliced bread. The Smile seems to be acting as Yorke and Greenwood’s escape from the sheer size of Radiohead at the moment.
While there are still no confirmed details of an album insight, if you’re desperate for a physical release, you can join the free lottery to give yourself a chance to win a limited-edition joint A-side 7” vinyl pressing of the band’s 2 singles so far. A full list of participating record stores has been published by the band here, so if you get down there you can show some love for your local independent store, and maybe bag yourself some goodies. So far, the band have given fans 2 opportunities for free music, with this and the international raffle for tickets to their trio of shows depending on what country you are from. As we know, Yorke and co. in Radiohead are more than happy to push through an awkward release method, so could we be on the brink of one now? I’m saying yes… probably.
As I mentioned before, the UK dates of The Smile’s tour have long since sold out. But that means you’re now perfectly able to justify going abroad for a week or so to check out the festival circuit. With appearances in Switzerland, France, The Netherlands, and a bunch of others there’s no time like the present to give yourself a holiday. Check out the dates here.
