by Gianluigi Marsibilio (@GMarsibilio)
What is really left to say about Radiohead and the side-projects that punctually Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood are capable of designing? The point is not only anchored in artistic bravery but in the ability to structure music around an imaginary that is always new and personal. It also happens with The Smile, thanks to the rhythmic consciousness of Tom Skinner.
A Light for Attracting Attention is a record that lives an independent existence, and yet it carries with it a baggage that comes from a sound that touches on OK Computer, The Bends, and in some insights even Amnesiac and A Moon Shaped Pool. The baggage is comprehensive, complex, but not weighty, because Yorke and Greenwood's cross-media paths have offered an endless array of suggestions. The overall feeling of A Light for Attracting Attention is that of hearing a new, incredible, but recognizable and consistent album.
In specific passages the record revolves around contemporary urgencies such as climate and devastation. "Devastation has come/left in a station with a note upon," Yorke's voice sings on “Speech Bubbles”. We perceive the burning city in which we live daily, throughout A Light for Attracting Attention the focus is on the present, no over-prophetic instinct is searched for.
To focus on the sound is to find one very close to what an average attentive listener might expect, with sublime quality in every aspect and detail of the record, starting with Skinner's rhythmic handling. His sounds particularly come through in tracks such as “The Opposite”. The flexibility of the rhythmic arrangements on each track echoes his intuitions that are already beloved by those who have known and listened to his Hello Skinny project.
In addition, The Smile has a sound collimating on the vast sonic experiences and knowledge of its members. They still manage to build an experience on A Light for Attracting Attention that for Radiohead fans is extremely religious, a structured suitcase of everything that you, Greenwood, and Yorke have always emphasized. While The Smile project might not be a key to access and "spread the message" to those who don't already chew and know too much about Radiohead, the album certainly has a coherence, experimentation, and sense of care.