The Smile/ A Light For Attracting Attention

BY NARENDRA KUSNUR 

The Smile/ A Light For Attracting Attention

Genre: Experimental rock/ alternative 

Label: XL Recordings

Rating: **** 1/2

Over the past three decades, UK-based Radiohead has been one of the most experimental and cutting-edge bands, constantly pushing the envelope with their sonic palette. Now, two of their members, vocalist Thom Yorke and guitarist Jonny Greenwood, gang up to form the band The Smile, which made a surprise live appearance last year.

Joined by drummer Tom Skinner of the prog-jazz/ worldbeat outfit Sons Of Kemet, the musicians try out newer things on their debut album A Light For Attracting Attention. And with Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich added to the mix, you can't but help finding a lot of Radiohead elements here, specially tracing back to the Amnesiac and Hail To The Thief albums.

Call this post-Radiohead, if you please, but the trio spring surprise after surprise, with Greenwood even adding some frenzied basswork. The sound is a blend of alternative, prog, post-punk, avant garde jazz and Afrobeat, and the songs are constructed in such a manner that you think three or four tunes are playing together. Add to that some vibrant strings, raw horns, unusual time signatures and a lemon-slice sprinkling of flute, and what you have is something truly eclectic. Or weird, for those who lack the patience, or never really cared for Radiohead.

The Smile here is not a happy emotion, but a reference to artifice, dishonesty and deceit. Interestingly, the first two songs are titled 'The Same' and 'The Opposite', with Yorke settling into his trademark falsetto, singing 'People in the streets, please we all want the same, please we are all the same" on the former.

'You Will Never Work In Television Again' seems like a spillover from the 2003 Radiohead album Hail To The Thief. The keyboard-backed 'Pana-vision' is one of the most intense cuts here, with Yorke singing, "I don't want to hate you, I don't want to bear a kind of fascination that gets in my way". The singer is in pristine form on 'Speech Bubbles' and 'Free In The Knowledge', which has the lines, "Free in the knowledge that one day this will end; Free in the knowledge that everything is changed".

Some of the arrangements are like masterclasses. The dancing bassline of 'The Smoke', with its accompanying rhythm and slow build-up adding to the aura. 'Thin Thing' is a delight on headphones, with the guitar on one channel, drums on another and voice and strings in the centre.

One thing that's helped both Yorke and Greenwood is that they've both worked on film soundtracks, with the latter doing Spencer and The Power Of The Dog last year. That's added to their already-overflowing creativity, and it's very evident on the songs 'Waving A White Flag' and 'Skrting On The Surface'. In contrast, there's the sheer energy and hardness of 'We Don't Know What Tomorrow Brings', with Yorke repeating the main line against a mànic guitar-backed build-up.

While the musicians are in supreme form, full credit to Godrich and mastering engineer Bob Ludwig for making this a production delight. The instruments just flow seamlessly but the mix has been handled brilliantly. It's got the Radiohead stamp, but is yet different. Each song offers something new on fresh listen.