Wall of Eyes: the next Evolution of The Smile’s unfiltered genius.
Even if The Smile isn’t altogether new, Wall of Eyes marks their most definitive break from Radiohead yet, outshining their debut to stand as a wondrous work that will enchant, haunt, and charm you at will.
Since Radiohead’s inception in 1993, Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood have stood at the forefront, steering the band’s groundbreaking sound as its primary creative forces. So, when this legendary rock duo formed a new band called The Smile with jazz drummer Tom Skinner of Sons of Kemet, it felt like a continuation of the Radiohead project. Unlike Radiohead, however, which released their last three albums over a ten year span with nothing new since 2016, The Smile have been on a creative roll. Since their formation in 2021, they’ve released two new albums in just two years: their debut, A Light for Attraction Attention, in 2022, and their sophomore effort, Wall of Eyes, in 2024.
Liberated from the towering legacy of Radiohead and decades-long band dynamics, these stray Radiohead members (along with Skinner) seem to have breathed new life into their musical endeavors. The fluidity and eclecticism of their rangy debut album mirrored this rejuvenated passion. Wall of Eyes, with five fewer tracks, achieves a more cohesive and rich sound by refining and expanding on their initial musical exploration and venturing into new, mesmerizing soundscapes that might have felt awkward released under the Radiohead moniker. The product is a wondrous album that marks the beginning of a legacy that might just be as compelling as the one it seeks to transcend.
Unlike their debut, which often saw tracks open with captivating energy but fail to build momentum, each track on Wall of Eyes has a varied and engaging progression that meticulously unfolds and expands from start to finish. The irresistible slow burn of “Teleharmonic” is an excellent example. The layered synths and rhythm sections are subtle throughout but become increasingly enveloping, sucking you in as Thom yells what we are all wondering: “Where are you taking me?” The answer: a brain-tingling synth riff that provides a moment of calm in the eye of the storm before Yorke replies, “Somewhere you’ll be there” and the song’s instrumental whirlpool proceeds to sweep you away entirely. Even the more one-note songs like the title track and “I Quit,” which had left me hoping for more in terms of change or contrast across their runtime, are still thoroughly enjoyable due to their enchanting embellishments, striking details, and generally fantastic production. Like their debut, Wall of Eyes unveils new layers and nuances with each listen—yet, in contrast to it, where many tracks gradually lost their spark, every track on their sophomore album flourishes throughout their duration, offering a more diverse and enriched listening experience.
While most tracks on Wall of Eyes follow the formula of “Teleharmonic”, floating into existence and blossoming over their runtimes, “Read the Room” and “Under Our Pillows” both hit the ground running with wiry, twisting guitar riffs that metamorphosize in unexpectedly successful ways. “Under Our Pillows,” my personal favorite track on the album, sets the scene with a sharp riff that pieces through funky, free-flowing percussion with a nervous energy turned eerie by Thom Yorke’s foreboding vocals. The riff then fragments and we are ushered into a psyche-rock tunnel, propelled along by a motorik rhythm that isolates the eerie from the funky. Eventually, Greenwood guides us out, the motoric beat recedes, and the wiry, tense cords give way to stunningly beautiful swells of orchestral strings. Some reviewers have labeled this song “Thin Thing” 2.0, alluding to a song off the band’s debut with a similar riff. I would argue “Under Our Pillows” is closer to what “Thin Thing” always wanted to be but couldn’t, due to the latter’s overly airy vocals and muddy transitions that are luckily not found on any track of the band’s sophomore album.
What Wall of Eyes skips over in its revision of its predecessor are the hard-rocking tracks that were a highlight of the band’s debut. Songs like “You Will Never Work in Television Again” and “We Don’t Know What Tomorrow Brings” are some of the most raucous Radiohead-related tracks since Hail to the Thief’s “2 + 2 = 5.” The closest thing to these hard-hitters on Wall of Eyes is “Read the Room.” Greenwood electrifies the nerve center here with squawking guitars that launch the song and driving riffs that combine with Skinner’s mechanized drumming to thrust you toward the song’s explosive finale. In many respects, “Read the Room” is one of Greenwood’s most volatile performances since In Rainbows, but it does not capture the same raw energy and stripped-back punk essence found in the fiery hits of their debut.
Most notably, Yorke’s vocal delivery, while at times explosive, doesn’t sustain its intensity long enough to evoke the same defiant energy and, thematically, Yorke doesn’t quite muster the same irresistible sneer with which he stood up to a “gangster troll” on “You Will Never Work in Television Again.” Like Radiohead, The Smile seems intent on exploring new directions rather than replicating past triumphs, and, without the same punk tracks that were present on their debut, Wall of Eyes is certainly more cohesive. Still, the band’s choice to let loose and rock out in sections of A Light for Attracting Attention was crucial to setting it apart from Radiohead’s more recent works. By omitting these moments, it’s hard not to feel that The Smile has drifted closer to the mothership.
Although Wall of Eyes doesn’t feature any headbangers, the understated charm of “Friend of a Friend” marks its own unique place in The Smile’s discography as one their most Radiohead-distinct tracks to date. At first, Yorke’s gentle vocals, alongside a groovy bassline and piano arrangement, form an oddly simple, almost hummable melody. In fact, in an ironic embrace of the song’s subtly playful tone, the Smile performed the song for a class of elementary school students in the music video for a “Friend of a Friend.” The song does not remain friendly throughout, though—Skinner’s stuttering snares and quick cymbal hits join the fray and unsettle the jazzy intro, morphing its tentatively kid-friendly tune into a psych-rock phantasm before cutting back its instrumentation and delivering a haunting coda. The song’s knack for maintaining its charmingly simple and jazzy core, shifting from the accessible to the beautifully surreal, then returning to simplicity—albeit with a more eerie tone than at first—is what makes it a refreshing and transportive experience.
In Radiohead and often The Smile’s typical style, complexity enhances their music, layering intricate textures that, while beautiful, might overshadow simpler charms. The allure of “Friend of a Friend,” however, is its refusal to ever fully succumb to its intricacies. The song might not win over a room of children, as evidenced by the song’s hilariously lukewarm reception in the music video, but the mere consideration of its suitability for an elementary school assembly, even if ironic, underscores the distinctive charm that The Smile achieves by eschewing Radiohead’s more elaborate ethos.
“Bending Hectic” stands out as the true masterpiece of Wall of Eyes. Like “Friend of a Friend,” it abounds with reminders of what Radiohead, at least during their latter days, might not allow. From the outset, it challenges Radiohead’s meticulous sound design with an almost improvisational tone. As Greenwood’s guitar plucks flutter into and out of tune and Skinner’s rolling drums progressively tighten and loosen back-and-forth with an enveloping fluidity, it feels as if the band is shaping the song in real time. The song even hinges on a rather rare bit of narrative writing from Yorke. As he speeds along the Italian mountainside toward an oncoming cliff, wondering if he should turn or give into his suicidal temptations, he sings at last, “I’m letting go of the wheel,” and a swell of orchestral strings shriek in response. When the band returns with a crescendo of noise-rock, Yorke momentarily sounds like a different singer, his voice more strained and forceful as he muscles his way into the song’s thunderous finale. Ultimately, “Bending Hectic” is The Smile’s greatest triumph precisely because Yorke’s voice is able to buck the inclinations it imported from three decades with Radiohead and finally explore new contexts alongside the band.
Even if The Smile isn’t altogether new, Wall of Eyes marks their most definitive break from Radiohead yet, outshining their debut and standing as a wondrous work that will enchant, haunt, and charm you at will. The album is at times volatile and at others subtle. It is both astonishingly detailed and effortlessly fluid. It is among Yorke and Greenwood’s best work since In Rainbows, and yet Yorke said that the band wrote and composed “Read the Room,” “Friend of a Friend,” and “Bending Hectic” in three days while touring their debut album. It is a masterpiece and we should all be grateful to the trio for shedding the excesses of Radiohead to share their unfiltered genius with us.
edited by Joyce Zhang.
album artwork believed to belong to either the publisher of the work or the artist.