That’s too bad. They were excellent.
I think the chances are low The Smile will become a full-fledged band, mostly considering Johnny’s career.
But who knows…
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They’re all involved in so many other things. Great band! Theon Cross does some great music with Moses Boyd. Shabaka is everywhere right now. Skinner is living the dream. So many solid threads spinning out of this band. Sad to see it go, but excited for the musicians exploring and creating.
Edit: Forgot about former member Seb Rochford who leads Polar Bear!
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Like a “supergroup” in reverse.
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At a show last week, Thom said they’d started work on The Smile album #2. More fully fledged than not for the time being.
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Well ok. They must be feeling pretty inspired. The album sure sounds like they’re enjoying themselves.
Be quick, “puorgrepus” isn’t a thing yet.
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Love this man so much
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I only just got around to listening through this album. So damn good. All the things and feels. I thought it was gonna be all like the single, but damn, so emotive. bellissimo
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This just got posted on IG and Twitter and there’s some good gear pics. Notable on Thom’s board (2nd picture) are 2 of the SOMA Cosmos loopers.
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Another good reason to own a Cosmos 
Keep listening to the last record, so good.
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I’m seeing The Smile three times in the next month or so, will report back on how they’re sounding.
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I never reported back on my live show findings so here goes:
This band sounds amazing live. The drums absolutely punch you in the gut in a way that doesn’t come across on the album versions of the songs — the album is produced in a spacey, psychedelic way that sounds really cool but doesn’t quite punch as hard as I sometimes want it to. When you hear them live, all that punch comes through and more.
They have a ton of new material that they’re performing/perfecting and will hopefully end up on their next album (I think they’ve already confirmed that they’re recording again soon but maybe that’s still just a rumor — in any case, they have plenty of songs to give us another LP).
This Tiny Desk show is the most dry/minimal I’ve heard them sound. It’s nice but if you want to hear the full weight of The Smile I suggest checking some live clips from YouTube — the quality might be garbage but it might be the best way to see just how much ass this band can kick.
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There are a few clips from their montreux gig on their channel which have great quality.
The full concert was taken down unfortunately.
I agree the tiny desk is very dry. I‘m missing reverb on his voice particularly, since the album versions are very spacious
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NPR is in Washington, DC! I was supposed to go see them at the DC show (the Wednesday before Thanksgiving), but I missed it by testing positive for Covid on the Sunday before.
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Oh no
Absolutely love the Tiny Desk versions! Would’ve been nice to see/hear what the second song they played was (see Thom first switch to a guitar after Pana-Vision vs. he plays bass on The Smoke) but the three songs are great as they are. Love this band, hope to see them live at some point!
Edit: Funny there’s no saxophone on this version of Skrting On the Surface even tho they had a sax player with them on the gig.
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I spot an Octatrack 
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