Over 20 years after Radiohead’s studio sessions were fruitful enough to yield a pair of now-classic albums, Kid A and Amnesiac, the side project the Smile have pulled off a similar feat with Cutouts, the band’s second LP of 2024.
Arriving October 4, just eight months after the release of second album Wall of Eyes, the trio of Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, and drummer Tom Skinner have 10-track LP at the ready, comprised of tracks that date back to the band’s earlier gigs (“Eyes and Mouth,” “Colours Fly,” “Bodies Laughing”), songs that debuted on their since-canceled tour in support of Wall of Eyes (“Instant Psalm,” “Zero Sum,” “Tiptoe”), the recent single “Don’t Get Me Started” and “The Slip,” plus new tracks like album opener “Foreign Spies,” which the Smile revealed Wednesday via a Weirdcore-directed video:
The Smile spent the past week teasing the LP with a series of social media posts that, when decoded, gave clues to the Cutouts’ track list. One remnant of that scavenger hunt remained with the reveal of the track list Wednesday, as the ninth song, “UGcgWGFkcWE=,” was already decoded by intrepid Redditors as another unheard track, “No Words.”
Additionally, the Smile have shared the visual for the studio rendition of “Zero Sum,” which they premiered live in March 2024. The song also lends its lyric “A cutout trying to fill the void” to the album’s title:
The songs on Cutouts were recorded during the same Oxford and Abbey Road Studios sessions as Wall of Eyes, one of Rolling Stone‘s Best Albums of 2024 So Far; both albums were produced by Sam Petts-Davies, feature string arrangements by the London Contemporary Orchestra, and boast artwork by Yorke and longtime artistic collaborator Stanley Donwood.
Cutouts is available to preorder now in a variety of formats, including limited edition white vinyl and purple cassette. However, following its release, the Smile won’t immediately hit the road in support of the album; instead, Yorke has planned a rare catalog-spanning solo trek of the Pacific rim for the fall.
Cutouts Track List
1. Foreign Spies
2. Instant Psalm
3. Zero Sum
4. Colours Fly
5. Eyes & Mouth
6. Don’t Get Me Started
7. Tiptoe
8. The Slip
9. UGcgWGFkcWE= (No Words)
10. Bodies Laughing
