A second album in nine months for Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and drummer Tom Skinner? Yes, please? Wall of Eyesreleased last January, is still in the running among the best albums of the year. This will not be the case for Cutouts which, as its title suggests, collects songs recorded during the same sessions, but which had not been retained. We will prefer to judge by the piece, although the whole has a unique personality, much softer than what The Smile previously offered us. We discover that when the group conceived Wall of Eyesall musical options were on the table: the dreamy synth ballad (Foreign Spies in the opening), the folk-rock ballad (Instant Psalmvery pretty), the connections with Radiohead (this guitar motif in Zero Sum !). On rare occasions we recognize African rhythmic flavors (Eyes & Mouth) and kosmische rock (No Wordsthe haunting Color Fly) which gave The Smile the personality allowing it to stand out from the previous projects of the members of the trio.
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