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The Smile: Wall of Eyes review – agile, tuneful second album

With strings and psychedelia added to the mix, Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood’s ever-evolving side project feels as dynamic now as their day job

Different artists take a wide variety of paths in presenting their work nowadays, from dropping unheard new tracks all at once to long, drawn-out reveals across social media. The fact that there are live fan favourites out there that have not yet made it to recorded versions makes the Smile feel less like a side project and increasingly like a going concern who are workshopping a significant body of work in real time. You can see the appeal: three musicians, sometimes augmented by saxophonist Robert Stillman; they can move more nimbly and create modern classical/funk hybrid jams to their hearts’ contents.

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