The Smile have announced their new album ‘Cutouts’ and have shared two new singles ‘Foreign Spies’ and ‘Zero Sum’.
‘Cutouts’ marks the band’s second album of 2024 and is set for release on October 4 via XL Recordings. To preview the LP, the supergroup consisting of Radiohead‘s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood and Sons Of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner, shared ‘Foreign Spies’, a synth heavy track that sees Yorke sing: “Somewhere lurking / Form a line / Falling over / Zip tied / Foreign spies / Foreign spies.”
Directed by audiovisual artist Weirdcore, the song’s accompanying video features a trippy, kaleidoscope visual of what appears to be landscape depictions.
The band also released ‘Zero Sum’, a track that NME had previously described as “the nosebleed-inducing 1000mph” song. It features a whirlwind synth riff and crisp drumming.
‘Cutouts’ marks the third studio LP form the band following ‘Wall Of Eyes‘ which was released at the beginning of this year. In a four-star review of the album, NME shared: “It is a moment of sheer brilliance, one among many on ‘Wall Of Eyes’. Where previously the comparisons to their Radiohead catalogue could warp expectations, the breadth of the material on offer here suggest that it could, eventually, flip that dynamic right on its head.”
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Produced by Sam Petts-Davies, ‘Cutouts’ was recorded in both Oxford and at Abbey Road Studios at the same time The Smile was recording ‘Wall Of Eyes’. The LP will be comprised of 10 tracks including the previously released ‘Don’t Get Me Started’ and ‘The Slip’.
The new album will be available in digital, CD, cassette, and various vinyl formats including a standard black vinyl as well as a limited-edition white pressing. You can pre-order / pre-save the LP here.
The announcement of ‘Cutouts’ comes a few days after The Smile posted a series of cryptic social media posts leading fans to believe they were teasing a new album.
Previously speaking about working at the legendary Abbey Road Studios and if they felt any influence from The Beatles, Yorke shared: “We fucking tried not to! I mean we were in Abbey Road, but it’s like, ‘Let’s not do that, eh?’”
He continued: “The fact that we chose to do a tuning-sweep thing halfway through ‘Bending Hectic’ was just because it wanted that to happen rather than, ‘Hey, let’s do a Beatles song!’
“That’s the weird thing about Abbey Road, it’s the best fucking studio in London – but there’s this tourist-y element where people go in just to say that they’ve been at Abbey Road. For people like us who’ve been working there on-and-off since the ‘90s, it’s a bit depressing, because it is a fantastic place.”
Last month, the group cancelled their upcoming European tour dates for August while Greenwood recovered from his stay in intensive care.
“A few days ago, Jonny became seriously ill from an infection that needed emergency hospital treatment, some of it in intensive care. Mercifully, he is now out of danger and will soon return home,” the band wrote.
“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. To that end, The Smile tour of Europe in August is cancelled.”