Cutouts is the third album from British art-rock band, The Smile. Composed of two major members of the legendary rock band, Radiohead, in Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards) and Jonny Greenwood (guitar, bass, keyboards), and ex-Sons of Kemet drummer, Tom Skinner. While the project contains musicians from Radiohead, The Smile’s sound is considered by critics to have a crazier sound than Radiohead. I haven’t heard that much from Radiohead, surprisingly, and I intend to change that, but given this, my thoughts here analyze the album as a record independent from anything Radiohead related. Here they are.

     The first track, “Foreign Spies,” is dreamy and calming, featuring a variety of warm, glistening synths, and paired with Yorke’s beautiful, melancholy vocals it feels spacey and nostalgic. Something I noticed was the lack of percussion on the track, which I feel was intentional. Following that, is “Instant Psalm,” which has a slow, chugging drum beat, and a heavy use of orchestral strings. I personally really like the usage of acoustic guitars and upright bass. The orchestra is a nice touch, however at the beginning it does feel disorienting. “Zero Sum,” is a much more uptempo and jazzy-sounding track. The main guitar riff is absolutely gnarly, and it almost sounds like a synthesizer. The track pokes fun at various conspiracy theories, such as the popular “birds aren’t real,” theory, lyrically, it’s not that deep or complex, but instrumentally and production wise, it impresses me greatly, as does most of this album. “Colours Fly,” has some of my favorite guitar riffs on the album, and I like the Middle Eastern, psychedelic sound of the track a lot. 

    The reversed vocal samples, inclusion of bass clarinet, and unsettling instrumentation overall, really makes you feel as if you’re experiencing a bad drug trip. At times I had to rewind to make sure I was really hearing the howling screams in the first instrumental bridge. Just an amazing track. “Eyes & Mouth,” is another jazzy track with bluesy guitars, impactful piano chords, and uptempo drums. When I say that the album isn’t really deep lyrically, I’m not saying that to insult the band’s songwriting, or that it doesn’t add anything to the tracks, my point is just that production wise and sonically, it’s more attention-grabbing than the lyrics. Anyways, I love the vocal harmonies on “Eyes & Mouth,” that show up around halfway through the song. “Don’t Get Me Started,” is another minimalist track which focuses on the reverb-drenched vocals of Thom Yorke, and laidback synthesizers. A little past the 2 minute mark of the nearly 6 minute song, we get a tribal-sounding electronic drum rhythm, which really makes the track pop. “Tiptoe,” the second track featuring the London Contemporary Orchestra, in my opinion makes much better use of the strings than “Instant Psalm,” does. The slow melancholy piano paired with the dramatic strings, really left an impact on me, and combined with the aimless theme of the lyrics, creates this really tragic vibe, which not many other tracks I’ve heard so far, this year have done this well. “The Slip,” has some of the best drum production on the record and I really like the punchy synth bass featured on it. “No Words,” has this hollow bell synth loop that sounds like a marimba, and punk-ish guitar riffs. The lyrics on this track are possibly the best on the entire album, as I really like how dark and descriptive they are with lines like, “You’re not so tough. And the jaw like force. Clings to joyless bones, devoured by ants.” It’s such a disturbing visual, and I kinda like it. “Bodies Laughing,” is a strong closer to the album as it has this dusty, acoustic sound that sounds like something that would fit in the Django Unchained soundtrack.

   I didn’t go into this album expecting much, as, again, I’m not super familiar with Radiohead, but I was truly blown away by how fantastic this album is. Whether it’s the wide range of different sounds production-wise and instrumentally, or the dreary vocals of Thom Yorke, this is easily one of the best albums I’ve heard this year, and I’ve been saying that a lot these past few months. I love the way that guitars, synths, and symphonic strings are used in this record as it creates an atmosphere unlike any other record I’ve heard this year. This album is a masterpiece, and I can’t recommend it enough, 9 out of the ten tracks I absolutely loved, and the one that I wasn’t a massive fan of, I still enjoyed.

Overall Score: 9/10

Favorite Tracks: “Foreign Spies,” “Zero Sum,” “Colours Fly,” “Eyes & Mouth,” “Don’t Get Me Started,” “No Words,”

Least Favorite Tracks: “Instant Psalm,”

Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHkZ5YzJYvI

Genres: Art Rock/Psychedelic Rock/Experimental Rock