Wall of Eyes

Wall of Eyes is the second studio album by the English rock band the Smile, released on 26 January 2024 through XL Recordings.

[9] "Bending Hectic" begins with detuned guitar and builds to a crescendo, with lyrics describing a car crash, a familiar subject for Yorke.

[10] The "Wall of Eyes" music video was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and filmed at the Mildmay Club in London in October.

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

[29] The Irish Times wrote that it had a "remarkable, sombre majesty" reminiscent of the 2016 Radiohead album A Moon Shaped Pool, and that Yorke and Greenwood had "delivered yet another classic".

[35] The Guardian chief music critic, Alexis Petridis, chose it as his album of the week, writing that it was "imaginative and viscerally thrilling, one of the best things Yorke and Greenwood have put their names to in at least a decade".

[33] In Pitchfork, Jazz Monroe named Wall of Eyes the week's "best new music", writing that Yorke and Greenwood sounded more relaxed and had allowed their songwriting to absorb more influences.

[37] Consequence picked "Wall of Eyes" as their song of the week, describing it as "dizzyingly danceable and easily enjoyable ... the sound of three boundless musicians with enough ideas to span several lifetimes".

[10] In July, BrooklynVegan named Wall of Eyes one of their favourite albums of the year so far, writing: "It's a treat to hear music that doesn't sound so obsessed over from people who just exude talent ... As much as the more moody, ethereal songs sound like Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood at their finest, it's even more thrilling to hear the ways Wall of Eyes push them out of their usual comfort zones.

"[8] In Stereogum, Chris DeVille wrote that Wall of Eyes "stands out for the way its songs resemble the outgrowth of a living organism rather than compositions pieced together".

The Smile at the Brighton Centre , March 2024