The Smile announce new album ‘Cutouts’
Following the success of their second album, Wall of Eyes, earlier this year, The Smile have announced details of their new record, Cutouts, scheduled for release on October 4th.
Radiohead duo Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood along with drummer Tom Skinner, released their debut album as The Smile back in 2022. A Light for Attracting Attention was a commercial and critical success. In January, the trio released their highly anticipated sophomore record, Wall of Eyes, to similar acclaim.
Far Out awarded the album four-and-a-half stars, stating in the review: “Wall of Eyes is not a salient masterpiece of the Yorke-Greenwood canon but a more than worthy addition to the bulletproof saga. What happens next is anyone’s guess.”
Just seven months after Wall of Eyes hit record stores, The Smile have now announced a follow-up album set for release this autumn. Cutouts was recorded alongside Wall of Eyes between Oxford and Abbey Road Studios and was produced by Sam Petts-Davies. It will also feature string contributions from the London Contemporary Orchestra.
The album announcement is accompanied by the release of two new songs, the contemplative ‘Foreign Spies’ and the slightly more upbeat ‘Zero Sum’. The latter is accompanied by a music video created by Weirdcore. The album will also feature ‘Don’t Get Me Started’ and ‘The Slip’, which were released on a limited edition vinyl last month.
Following the release of Wall of Eyes, The Smile spent the beginning of their summer touring the record. They played a number of shows across Europe before guitarist Jonny Greenwood became “seriously ill”.
A statement made by the band informed fans that Greenwood had an “infection that needed emergency hospital treatment, some of it in intensive care.” As a result, the band cancelled the European dates they had planned for August, which included shows in Munich, Vienna, and Valencia, as well as a number of festival slots.
“We have been instructed by the medical team in charge of Jonny’s care to cancel all engagements until he has had time to make a full recovery,” they explained, “To that end, The Smile tour of Europe in August is cancelled.”
The Smile are yet to perform live again since their performance at Roma Summer Fest on June 24th and have provided no further updates on Greenwood’s health.
Cutouts, The Smile’s third album, will be released on October 4th via XL Recordings.
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