The Smile and Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke on making Cutouts and upcoming Australian tour
Thom Yorke (centre) fronts The Smile alongside fellow Radiohead bandmate Jonny Greenwood (left) and Tom Skinner (right). (Supplied: Alex Lake)
In the eight long years since Radiohead released their latest album, A Moon Shaped Pool, there's been no shortage of solo albums and projects from the five members of the distinguished British group.
None, however, have been quite as thrilling as The Smile — the spin-off band from frontman Thom Yorke and guitarist Jonny Greenwood, alongside respected UK drummer Tom Skinner.
For a large faction of fans, The Smile has successfully scratched their Radiohead-sized itch.
No surprises. Yorke and Greenwood are arguably the two key creative linchpins in both groups. Free from the pressures and prestige that come with being in Radiohead, the pair sound rejuvenated in The Smile.
They still get to do the dread-inducing electronics and symphonic-laden art rock of their main gig, but also lean into kinetic spasms of guitar and tricky time signatures spiced with looser, jazzier grooves.
Releasing three albums in as many years, The Smile's fertile activity has justified their existence, even as it continues to raise questions about the future of Radiohead.
So, what does their iconic frontman make of all this conjecture?
"I am not aware of it and don't really give a flying f**k," Yorke tells Double J in an exclusive interview.
"No offence to anyone and err, thanks for caring. But I think we've earned the right to do what makes sense to us without having to explain ourselves or be answerable to anyone else's historical idea of what we should be doing."
Fair enough. The 56-year-old musician has more than proven himself in various solo albums, film scores, and as the angel-voiced, artistic force out front of one of the most culturally important and critically acclaimed bands of their generation.
Loading...This far into his career, Yorke has little anxiety about his choice of artistic direction.
"I don't think we feel the need to live up to anything," Yorke continues. "That feels like a non-problem.
"We are in this privileged position where we are still able to make music because of Radiohead, so no complaints."
A new way of working
The origin of The Smile dates back to 2018, when Greenwood invited Skinner — drummer and co-founder of revered jazz collective Sons of Kemet — to a jam session.
Several productive sessions later, Yorke joined in. Then COVID hit, slowing the world down but accelerating the trio's progress.
"I guess personally [the pandemic] made me never take for granted again working with others in the same room," Yorke says.
"You know, what doesn't need to be said, what doesn't need to be explained. What cannot be said in an email, in a Zoom call, a text."
The Smile made their public debut in 2021 as the surprise headliner of a Glastonbury festival livestream, showcasing eight new songs in a half-hour set.
Yorke (centre) with Skinner and Greenwood of The Smile. "Not the smile as in, 'Ahhh', more the smile of the guy who lies to you every day," the frontman has said of the band name. (Supplied: Frank Lebon)
The group's debut album, A Light for Attracting Attention, was widely hailed as one of 2022's best (including by us). An intense touring schedule bore new material, leading to the release of another album in January, Wall of Eyes.
Less than 10 months later, we now have the group's second album of 2024, titled Cutouts.
It seems the band are working at an intensely prolific clip, but Yorke says this is "something of an illusion, honestly".
"For myself anyway, I've been working on a lot of things that are only now going out into the world. So, when they all come out on top of each other it looks like we're being prolific.
"To be fair though, working with The Smile has an intense pace to it, we collaborate kind of instinctively.
"It's the combination of the shorthand that Jonny and I have between us, and Skinner's ability to [reply] and throw something wicked at us to respond to."
He also credits the ability of producer Sam Petts-Davies to swiftly capture ideas direct to tape, "Before we've moved on to something else or lost our way," Yorke laughs.
"We also feel very fortunate to be able to release things when it suits us, and for people to still be interested. In the old days you'd be made to sit on things you've worked on to fit corporate marketing schedules."
A reluctance to industry convention has long defined Radiohead's career. So too has their appetite for experimentation, which is all over Cutouts, a record that gleefully flits between styles and moods.
At times, it sounds like an extension of Yorke and Greenwood's respective solo work composing film scores, such as the holographic string arrangements of 'Instant Psalm' or the symphonic sketch 'Tiptoe'.
"We all have very disparate musical interests and knowledge that somehow creates an interesting balance and the feeling that we can go anywhere we feel like," Yorke says.
"We all wanted to keep it all loose and fluid as a process, a bit of journey of discovery."
The record's finest moments zero in on the trio's hot-wired chemistry. 'The Slip' showcases Yorke's elegantly aged voice, flipping from brooding electronics and creeping atmosphere to explosive drum breaks and serrated riffs.
Greenwood's inventive, tessellating guitar meets stately piano and sizzling beats on 'Eyes & Mouth', while the hyperactive 'Zero Sum' also exhibits his fidgety, malfunctioning instrument and Yorke's sarcastic refrain of "Windows 95! Windows 95!" amid snaking rhythms and honking brass.
It's the most frenetic song The Smile have ever recorded. It's also arguably their best.
Separating Cutouts and Wall of Eyes
The 10 tracks that comprise Cutouts were recorded at Greenwood's house in Oxford and at London's legendary Abbey Road Studios, during the same period as Wall of Eyes.
The latter was completed and released first, partly out of necessity, Yorke explains.
"Wall of Eyes formed itself around a few key early moments, like coming up with 'Bending Hectic' on tour and the [title track] coming together very spontaneously in the studio."
"We made a conscious decision to move the tunes into two groups, to be able to do it all justice and have the right amount of head space to do so without burnout!"
Some Cutouts songs had their roots in long-gestating ideas. 'Eyes & Mouth' has been "kicking around" since The Smile first formed "but took ages to get right".
The same is true for 'Bodies Laughing': "You could argue [that track is] more than 20 years old, except that I had always found it impossible to finish it," Yorke continues.
"Happily, [we] found a way into it. Having tried it live aggressively, within 20 minutes in the studio, we had turned it into some kind of paranoid easy-listening tune. Boom!
"How much of a song is really there until you know what to do with it to complete it?
"Much like a script, unless you get an actor to bring the lines to life, it remains just a script, words on a page. Yes, we have ideas, some very old and never complete. Some months old, some weeks old, sometimes they don't make sense until one day another idea sits with them."
Apocalyptic anthems
In a vacuum, the title Cutouts feels like a playful way of saying these songs are 'Leftovers'. The quality of the material contradicts that, but there's also a deeper significance.
"'Cutouts' is a term used in espionage," Yorke explains.
"I discovered the term reading around the subject of Russia's interference in politics in the US and UK. (No longer considered a conspiracy theory!)
"Cutouts are like two-dimensional characters placed to facilitate backdoor connections with an asset, or potential asset. I think it was the two-dimensional nature of the description I got stuck on. A new Cold War world of two-dimensional proxy characters."
For decades, Yorke has specialised in writing uneasy music presaging concerns about technological anxiety, climate disaster, government abuse of power, emotional isolation and other fun topics.
The kicker? His dystopian 'Paranoid Android' lyrical predictions are often proved correct.
Cutouts continues to reflect sign-o-the-times concerns of one of contemporary music's chief doomsayers with a more modern edge.
"Our atomisation and isolation from world events feels very different now [compared to the 90s]," Yorke says.
"We are three-dimensional human beings; we have profound emotions; we are gloriously imperfect — so why the f**k would we be online with two-dimensional avatars of each other as if they are really us, and try to engage with complex issues using two or three sentences?"
He says it's worse than the late 90s, when Radiohead were establishing themselves, because we are "under the illusion that social media has given us a platform" in which to participate in global issues, says Yorke, all while "the companies that have built these platforms act as if [they are] above all human laws".
"It feels both dangerous and meaningless, and certainly not conducive to nurturing compassion and understanding," he says.
"That to me is truly scary and destabilising and is why we are spiralling into war and myopia."
In other words, perfect fodder for Yorke's signature songwriting style. But the world becoming a scarier place doesn't make writing about it any easier.
"Words never get easier, it has always been very hard for me," he responds.
"Sometimes they fall out in a natural way without me having to do much, but most of the time it's like I am collecting piles of leaves that then the wind blows off again."
What's next for The Smile and Thom Yorke?
Greenwood once expressed a desire to release records that "were 90 per cent as good, but come out twice as often", saying that the closer they got to the end of recording, the more minute their changes would be.
After years of Radiohead reinventing their sonic identity and agonising over details, Greenwood is arguably satisfying that impulse with The Smile. But Yorke still believes in quality over quantity.
"Jonny and I are on opposite ends of this spectrum," he says. "Jonny is more impatient and is often already working in the next room on another idea.
"I like working on the final details. I can't help it … It is a relief to have it all flow and fit correctly."
Fortunately, Skinner is "a little more" like Yorke, and with producer Petts-Davies, they often go "on a mission" to solve anything that doesn't sound right on a track.
"I kind of love editing, it is a form of writing. Also, if you write lyrics and have to sing 'em, you kind of got to get the f****r right. So, you're already kinda wearing this hat.
"Often the best moments for me are leaning on the mixing desk between the speakers, hearing for the first time as something comes together. It's such a buzz… but a transient one."
The Smile's "intense pace" was brought to a halt earlier this year when Greenwood became "seriously ill from an infection that needed emergency hospital treatment," as the band wrote in a statement.
They cancelled a string of European shows at the time, and Yorke says Greenwood is still recovering, "So, touring is not really something we are currently discussing. We're on a pause."
In the meantime, Yorke is preparing for a solo tour of Australia, reworking material from his vast discography for a pair of headline concerts in Melbourne and Sydney, beginning late October.
These will be Yorke's first shows Down Under since Radiohead toured in 2012, but he's still finding it hard to sum them up.
"I've been working on this for a while, and with Sam. It is an experiment, a relatively simple one — well, not all of it," he says.
"On stage there will be some machines, a guitar, piano, and myself. If it's working, hopefully it will explain itself!"
There's one last matter to address, which brings us back to the 'R' word
Bassist Colin Greenwood (who's been moonlighting in the studio and on tour with Nick Cave) recently revealed Radiohead had reconvened for a rehearsal in London earlier this year.
We had to ask: How did it feel getting back together after everyone had followed their own muses in recent years? And did that change the way Radiohead's members collectively approach things?
"Yeeessss. I don't think I have anything to add to that," Yorke concludes cryptically.
"Is Muses the plural of muse? The mind boggles."
Cutouts is out now. Thom Yorke will play in Melbourne and Sydney at the end of October and start of November.