Released: 2024

Genres: Art Rock, Math Rock, Krautrock

The Musiquarium’s Cutouts Review Score: 5/5

Fans like myself were already feeling grateful for getting two new albums from Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood in the span of two years, so it came as a complete surprise when the band announced their second release of the year, with Cutouts.

In contrast to Wall of Eyes, Cutouts is generally more about math rock guitar riffing and jamming than ambience, like on the Windows 95-referencing Zero Sum, the jazzy Eyes & Mouth, and The National Anthem callback, Colours Fly, but like its sister album, it also features plenty of gentler tracks, like Foreign Spies and The Bends-era Radiohead acoustic sound of Instant Psalm. Don’t Get Me Started verges into TOOL-like prog rock territory, thanks to Tom Skinner’s drumming. The string-laden Tiptoe sounds as though it could have been an outtake from Radiohead’s A Moon Shaped Pool.

Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood seem to have a renewed vigour since working together away from Radiohead, pumping out 31 great songs since 2022 under The Smile. At this point, I’m nearly just as excited for a new album from The Smile as I am from Radiohead, and considering anything new from their other band is unlikely to be released any time soon, there’s solace in knowing that The Smile is here.

For credit breakdowns and historic release details, view The Smile on Discogs.

Back to the 2024 Album Guide or The Smile Reviews page.

Written by Brett Nippard