It was August 20, 2017, but it was cold enough for a late summer evening. At the Sferisterio di Macerata, an open-air theater usually used for opera concerts, there were three thousand people arrived from the Marche and other parts of Italy. They were there to hear Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood’s concert, organized to raise funds for the restoration of the region’s cultural heritage damaged by the 2016 earthquake. Perhaps it was in those moments, when Yorke and Greenwood found themselves alone. on stage to revisit the repertoire of their band, that Smile was born, the new project of the two Oxford musicians together with Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner. Their debut album, A light for attracting attentionwill be released on May 13th.
On the other hand, Yorke and Greenwood have always been the ones who made the decisive choices on the band’s career. It was they, more than twenty years ago, who gave birth to the electronic breakthrough of Kid Awhile the rest of the group planned to record a Ok computer part 2. It was Greenwood who was the first to try the solo way with Bodysongin 2003, and Yorke followed shortly after, in 2006, with The eraser. And they are again the ones to shake up the history of the group with the birth of Smile, whose name is inspired by a poem by British author Ted Hughes.
Not by chance A light for attracting attention it’s a very familiar record: it could easily be Radiohead’s 10th album. From a compositional point of view, the formula is more or less the same: Yorke is the main engine, he puts his voice, melodies and lyrics into it, while Greenwood is the sound architect who allows the constructions imagined by the singer to stand up, supporting them now with the strings, now with his guitar.
In general, minimalism is even more prevalent than usual, as the opening passage demonstrates The same: Yorke’s voice is supported only by a piano, some synthesizers and a couple of guitars, while the singer launches a generic call for equality and unity (“People in the streets / please we are all the same” ) in favor, probably, of the fight against climate change, a battle that has always been very dear to him. The same can be said of You will never work in television again, a song built on guitar, bass and drums with echoes of eighties post punk, from Fall to Bauhaus. This is also a protest song, describing an innocent youth in the hands of a society of dirty old men (the lyrics describe them as fat as pigs, with a “piggy limbs” that brings to mind “Kicking, squealing, Gucci little piggy ” from Paranoid android). There are children in golden chains, exploited sexually (“bunga bunga or you’ll never work on television again” makes us think of Berlusconi, but when he wrote the text Yorke perhaps also had in mind the Jimmy Savile scandal at the BBC).
Each sound element stands out from the others, such as the jazzy riff of The smoke (another song in which Yorke tackles the theme of the climate crisis), a song that opens the way to the central part of the record, the best. There there are Speech bubbles, a ballad with an almost Latin American cadence (a bit like it was Present tense in A moon shaped pool) which describes a desolate landscape but opens in a cathartic refrain, while Greenwood gradually adds strings, winds and double bass; Thin thingwho travels in neo-progressive territories, between neurotic guitars and distorted bass; Open the floodgatesa song already played live years ago by Radiohead that recalls the most reflective moments of In rainbows and it is another test of skill; And Free in the knowledge, where instead the spirit of Neil Young hovers (after all Yorke has always been a big fan of On the beach) and there is one of the most interesting harmonic changes (when the drums come in on the verse “I talk to the face in the mirror but he can’t get through” is a pleasure for the ears). Then the record drops a bit, before picking up again in the final with the splendid Skrting on the surfaceanother song taken from the live repertoire of the parent company.
A light for attracting attention it will not cause a miracle to cry out. It is a work in total continuity with Radiohead, from which you always know more or less what to expect. The fact that the songs were presented live in January also dampened the surprise effect a bit. But after the first listen (we know that Yorke and Greenwood’s music needs time to be fully appreciated) it is evident that it will be one of the records to remember in 2022 and that few in the world write and arrange songs like the two Oxford musicians. .
Compared to Radiohead, however, there are some differences. For example, drummer Tom Skinner, who also contributed to the writing of several songs. Skinner comes from the world of jazz and you can feel it: his touch is softer and more essential than Phil Selway’s. And we miss, on the other hand, Colin Greenwood’s bass, whose contribution to the Oxford band’s music has often been too underestimated, in the studio as well as live.
It comes natural to ask: does the birth of Smile mean the end of Radiohead? At the moment we don’t know. Judge how it sounds A light for attracting attention, it is reasonable to think that the Oxford band has decided to take a nice break, maybe not definitive but still long. The fact that two pieces written (and already recorded in non-definitive versions, it seems) for the historical group ended up in this record would prove it.
Yorke and Greenwood, who as usual sip their public appearances, so far have not given precise indications on the matter, but at the moment the band is stopped, also because Smile are about to leave for a European tour (which will also touch Italy with five dates). In January the two were guests of an episode of the US podcast Smartless, granting a long interview. After introducing them, almost point blank, the hosts asked Jonny Greenwood when we will see Radiohead live again. And he gave an answer that certainly does not help to clear the doubts: “Who knows”.