Tuning Radio to a new channel

Like a cheating husband, Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood are investing more energy in their ‘bit on the side’ than on Radiohead these days.

This is the second album from the Paranoid Android stars, aided and abetted by drummer Tom Skinner and producer Sam Petts-davies.

And they’ve broadened their palette, including touches of psychedelia and a string section -– courtesy the London Contemporary Orchestra – as well as modern jazz.

Friend Of A Friend starts as a dreamy ballad but meets strings so psychotic you could imagine the climax accompanying a slowmotion movie murder scene.

The unsettling Read The Room begins at a leisurely pace over subtle piano before building into krautrock. More worrying for Radiohead fans are the lyrics.

Thom sings: “And when the end has come, maybe you can’t, maybe you can’t be arsed for half a million.”

So are The Smile a labour of love or an escape hatch?

Only time will tell. They certainly feel freer and less constrained by expectations.

Like prog rock of the 70s, this is music that aspires to be taken seriously – a mighty long way from pop.

The eight tracks kick off with the relatively upbeat title track which becomes more disturbing as the synth kicks in.

The eight-minute Bending Hectic starts like an ethereal dream but builds into something so cacophonous some listeners might think kinder of The Birdie Song.

Recorded at Abbey Road, this song is longer and more winding than any road the Beatles trod.

The funky Under Our Pillows, powered by Jonny’s guitar riff, is close to jazz fusion, while the closer You Know Me! is relatively sweet.

The slothful Teleharmonic, as heard on Peaky Blinders, packs in flute and finds Yorke asking “Where are you taking me?”

It’s what all Radiohead fans want to know.