Critics likened them to Yorke and Greenwood's band Radiohead, with more jazz, krautrock and progressive rock influences and a looser, wilder sound.

In 2018, the Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood asked the Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner to join him for a session to try some ideas.

He cited the pandemic and the unavailability of the Radiohead guitarist Ed O'Brien, who was busy with his debut solo album, Earth (2020), as motivating factors.

[8] Pitchfork attributed the Smile to Greenwood's frustration with Radiohead's slow working pace and his desire to release records that are "90 percent as good [that] come out twice as often".

[12] The Smile made their debut in a surprise performance for the concert video Live at Worthy Farm, produced by Glastonbury Festival and streamed on May 22, 2021.

[13] That October, Yorke performed a Smile song, "Free in the Knowledge", at the Letters Live event at the Royal Albert Hall, London.

[34][35] A second North American tour began in mid-2023, including the Smile's first show in Mexico City and a headlining slot at Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago.

[40] In September and December, Yorke and Donwood exhibited a selection of artwork created for the Smile, The Crow Flies, in London.

[43][45] On 19 January, the Smile held a series of screenings at independent cinemas, including listening parties for the album and a selection of Yorke and Greenwood's videos with Anderson.

[46][47] The band members made a surprise appearance at the Prince Charles Cinema in London and answered questions from the audience.

[47] In March, the Smile began a European tour, including a performance at 6 Music Festival in Manchester with the London Contemporary Orchestra.

It was promoted with the singles "Don't Get Me Started", "The Slip", "Foreign Spies", "Zero Sum" and "Bodies Laughing", music videos by the digital artist Weirdcore, and cryptic messages on social media.

[59] Critics likened the Smile to Yorke and Greenwood's band Radiohead; both acts use "warped" melodies, unusual time signatures and "vintage rock" sensibilities.

[60][61] The Guardian critic Alexis Petridis said the Smile sounded "simultaneously more skeletal and knottier" than Radiohead, with progressive rock influences, complex riffs and "hard-driving" motorik psychedelia.

[63] The Uncut critic Wyndham Wallace described the Smile as "less a spinoff than regeneration, like a new Doctor Who, emerging from the same gene pool with equal gravitas".