The Smile - Cutouts 

Having been recorded alongside January’s ‘Wall of Eyes’, there’s every reason to presume a record titled ‘Cutouts’ consists of tracks The Smile opted not to include on that second full-length. With that in mind, it doesn’t surprise that the record is similarly atmospheric in nature – from the noodly ‘Eyes & Mouth’ to the swooping ‘Tiptoe’ via ‘Don’t Get Me Started’ which ebbs and flows itself into a dubby breakdown towards the end of its runtime. Equally, it’s only really the record’s closing tracks that offer something of a hook, ‘No Words’ going from a church bell-like loop to propulsive drums and a tempered motorik style, and closer ‘Bodies Laughing’ making use of acoustic guitar and an almost float-along vocal turn from Thom Yorke. With the sum of the trio’s musical parts now known, and this quite literally coming from the same sessions as their previous, to summarise ‘Cutouts’ as more of the same might seem a tad obvious a statement to make, but it’s just about the most accurate.