
The Smile announce details of live album recorded at Montreux Jazz Festival
Radiohead spin-off group The Smile have announced details of their debut live album taken from the Montreux Jazz Festival.
The group, which is comprised of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood plus Son of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner, made their debut at the festival this summer. Their set features tracks from their first album, A Light For Attracting Attention, which was released earlier this year, and includes the tracks, ‘The Smoke’, ‘Free The Knowledge’, and ‘You Will Never Work Again’.
The Montreux Jazz Festival took place in July, and the live album features eight songs from The Smile’s performance. Unfortunately, it’s a digital-only release, but there will also be a concert film which will be broadcast on the band’s YouTube channel.
The show will only be available to watch for 48 hours, and it will also include footage of the band’s debut performance of ‘Bending Hectic’, which they wrote on the day of the set at Montreux.
Meanwhile, Far Out ranked A Light For Attracting Attention at 15th in our list of ’50 Best Albums Of 2022′. The album round-up reads: “Compared with Radiohead’s most recent release, 2016’s A Moon Shaped Pool, A Light For Attracting Attention gave Yorke and Greenwood a chance to return to their heavier roots, and the results are infinitely rewarding.”
Far Out’s synopsis continues: “Greenwood’s work as a composer also aids the album by giving it a cinematic quality, such as on ‘Pana-vision’, which builds with expansive sound as piano and foreboding strings weave in and out of the background. ‘We Don’t Know What Tomorrow Brings’ demonstrates The Smile’s electronic influence, with synthesisers whizzing around as Yorke exclaims, “It’s a terrible shame!” and in ‘The Smoke’, a mesmerisingly dark riff opens as Skinner’s jazz-inflected drums dance behind.”
Watch the video for ‘The Smoke’ below.
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