The Smile
Tense, interlocking grooves and ethereal vocals that feel like a high-wire act. Art rock with a restless, polyrhythmic heart for deep, focused listening.
Tense, interlocking grooves and ethereal vocals that feel like a high-wire act. Art rock with a restless, polyrhythmic heart for deep, focused listening.
The Smile represents a significant evolution for Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, collaborating with jazz drummer Tom Skinner (Sons of Kemet) to explore a sound that is leaner and more rhythmically adventurous than late-era Radiohead. Formed during the COVID-19 lockdowns, the project debuted at Glastonbury's 2021 'Live at Worthy Farm' stream.
Their sound identity is defined by Skinner's complex, swinging percussion which allows Yorke and Greenwood to revisit guitar-centric post-punk and math-rock textures while maintaining a sophisticated harmonic language. Their first album was produced by Nigel Godrich, maintaining a sonic link to their heritage, while subsequent works with Sam Petts-Davies have leaned further into orchestral arrangements and psychedelic sprawl. Critical consensus views the band not as a side project, but as a vital, high-output entity that has revitalized the members' creative momentum. They occupy a unique cultural position as 'elder statesmen' of experimental rock who continue to push into demanding, non-linear song structures.
Shares art rock, post-punk, progressive rock (subgenres); brooding, tense, mysterious (moods)
Shares art rock, post-punk, math rock (subgenres); restless, tense, contemplative (moods)
Shares anxious, brooding, tense (moods); noise_textured, dry_intimate, layered_dense (production style)
Shares art rock, post-punk, math rock (subgenres); layered_dense, noise_textured, analog_warmth (production style)
Shares art rock, progressive rock, math rock (subgenres); layered_dense, noise_textured, analog_warmth (production style)
Shares art rock, post-punk, progressive rock (subgenres); mysterious, brooding, contemplative (moods)
Shares urban_night, late_night, fog (atmosphere); mysterious, contemplative, restless (moods)
Shares tense, mysterious, brooding (moods); falsetto, breathy, intense (vocal style)
Shares art rock, post-punk (subgenres); mysterious, brooding, contemplative (moods)
Shares tense, math rock, drums, progressive rock (signature)
Shares interlocking guitar patterns, math rock, anxious, post-punk (detail)
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