The Smile share “Friend Of A Friend” and take its video to cinemas

The Smile released “Friend Of A Friend” on 9 January, the third song shared from their second album, Wall Of Eyes, after “Bending Hectic” in June and the title track in November. Paul Thomas Anderson shot its video on 35mm, and it will be seen in cinemas before it goes online, at Wall Of Eyes, On Film, one-off events from 18 to 25 January. Ireland joined the run today, with Queen's Film Theatre in Belfast on 20 January and the Irish Film Institute in Dublin on 24 January.

Anyone who has seen Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and Tom Skinner on tour knows the song already. They first played it in Zagreb on 16 May 2022, the opening night of their first European tour, saying they had written it that day, and kept it in the set through 2022 and 2023. On the record it builds from a spare piano part, with the London Contemporary Orchestra on strings and Robert Stillman, who has toured with the band, on saxophone.

Each event plays the album from start to finish in surround sound before XL Recordings release it on 26 January, along with footage from the recording sessions nobody has seen. Anderson's film for “Wall Of Eyes” is on the programme too, beside his earlier work with Yorke and Radiohead: the short film ANIMA and the videos for “Daydreaming”, “Present Tense” and “The Numbers”.

Wall Of Eyes, On Film