Jonny Greenwood reveals The Smile have “a big backlog of ideas”
Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood has shed light on his new musical outfit The Smile and explained how the band has “a big backlog of ideas” for forthcoming music.
The Smile, comprised of Greenwood, Thom Yorke and Tom Skinner from Sons of Kemet, has been quietly working behind the scenes since their debut album A Light For Attracting Attention in 2022. Greenwood attributes their creativity surge to the pent-up frustration resulting from years without the band playing during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The frustration of having not had access to playing in a band for a couple of years has just built up a big backlog of ideas. We’re still firing off each other, and it feels productive. So, while that’s happening, we just wanna keep moving forward, I think,” Greenwood revealed in a recent interview with Consequence.
The group emerged in 2021 when they made their surprise debut performance at the streamed version of Glastonbury. Discussing the group’s creative process, Greenwood highlighted their intention to capture the band’s live performance essence in the recordings.
“We were doing a lot of the songs live, and we’ve made some faithful recordings of those,” he said. Greenwood further delved into the group’s dynamic, explaining that the distinct energy of a trio drives the new music. “I think [the record is about] the whole dynamic of three people and the limits that you have… and trying to enjoy that and work within them.”
Greenwood’s comments follow official confirmation that the band is “deep in recording” their second album. Earlier in the year, a newsletter addressed to fans stated: “We’re deep in recording, week 7, reel 15”.
Far Out said of their debut LP: “The album covers a broad range of emotions and musical styles in a seemingly effortless blend of jazz, dub, classical, electro and alt-rock. Does it cover much new ground? Not really, but did it need to? The Smile have condensed and consolidated most of the best aspects of Yorke and Greenwood’s past 30 years with Radiohead into an eclectic yet monolithic project.”
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