The Smile – the band featuring Radiohead's Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood and Sons Of Kemet’s Tom Skinner – have released their debut single, You Will Never Work In Television Again.
Clocking in at under three minutes, the song – which the band performed at Glastonbury‘s Live at Worthy Farm streaming event in May and at a livestreamed rehearsal in December – shows the profound influence Sonic Youth have had on Yorke and Greenwood.
Going by what we saw on the aforementioned livestreams, we'd wager that Yorke's using an Epiphone Casino for the song's tightly-coiled, rapid-fire riff, while Greenwood – likely with a Fender P-Bass – keeps to bass guitar duty.
Lyrically, Yorke is in classic form, bemoaning the "beautiful young hopes and dreams" that have been taken away by those with "evil eyes" and "piggy limbs." Yorke delivers the words with a righteous fury that's been largely absent from his recent work – particularly his subdued, largely electronic solo albums of recent years (2014's Tomorrow's Modern Boxes and 2019's Anima).
You Will Never Work In Television Again was helmed by longtime Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, and presumably will feature on the band's as-yet-untitled debut album, which Greenwood told the NME in September was "just about finished."
Along with the release of the song, the Smile announced that they will perform three live shows in 24 hours at Magazine London on January 29 and January 30. Though the trio will play before a seated audience, all three of the shows will also be broadcast in real time via a livestream.
The three performances will take place on January 29 at 8 p.m. GMT/3 p.m. EST, January 29/30 at 1 a.m. GMT/8 p.m. EST, and January 30 at 11 a.m. GMT/6 a.m. EST. All three of the broadcasts will also be available to ticketholders as unlimited on-demand replays for 48 hours starting at 2 p.m. GMT on January 30.
Tickets for both the physical show and livestream can be pre-ordered via The Smile's website.
