The Smile’s new album was recorded at The Beatles’ spiritual home of Abbey Road, but it’s hard to imagine an LP further removed from the whimsy and irreverence of John, Paul, Ringo and George. Instead of the Fab Four, Wall of Eyes is the latest transmission from the dismal duo of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood, with Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner again pitching in as their art-rock third musketeer.

As is to be expected of a Radiohead off-shoot, fun and frolics are not a priority. So faithfully do Yorke and Greenwood abide by Radiohead’s core values of stark, nervy guitars and Jeff Buckley-style vocals that it is debatable if The Smile even qualifies as a side project. It is perhaps more accurate to think of it as the evolutionary next stage of the pair’s monkish alternative rock – Radiohead reinvented and renewed.

Downtempo music can easily stumble into listless and spirit-sapping. But The Smile never stop moving forward on Wall of Eyes. That desire to press onward is signalled by ornate ballad “Friend of a Friend” – with lyrics inspired by Yorke’s experience of al-fresco suppering in Italy during the pandemic. Recalling Radiohead’s murky masterpiece “Pyramid Song”, it opens with a frontal onslaught of strings and piano. Then, in swoops Yorke, his voice full of that familiar, introvert-under-the-floodlights anxiety.

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The Smile’s determination to push their songwriting to the limits is sometimes their undoing. “Bending Hectic”, for instance, features a banshee shriek of strings (courtesy of the London Contemporary Orchestra) that is more endurance test than clever avant-garde flourish.

Yet beneath those familiar weather fronts of stoicism, “Teleharmonic” (with bonus flute flourishes and trip-hop beats) and “Read the Room” pulsate with dark energy. That bustling quality is enhanced by Skinner’s warm, jazzy shuffles and by the wintry fervour with which Greenwood and Yorke tackle the material.

Wall of Eyes is the second Smile LP in three years. Exasperated Radiohead fans will wonder if Yorke and Greenwood have any desire to return to the day job. But that question is for another day. Whatever the future holds for Radiohead, the album represents an engrossing new chapter from the Mick and Keith of indie miserablism and a fascinating way to start the year.

Stream: “Teleharmonic”, “Read the Room”, “Friend of a Friend”