Up, Up, and Away
Friend of a Friend - The Smile (Newer Music Tuesday)
While listening to The Smile’s new song “Friend of a Friend” this morning, the first thing I thought was “hey, they kind of sound like Radiohead”. Well, guess what. Two out of the three members of The Smile are in Radiohead. Listening back now, I am a little embarrassed that I didn’t figure it out right away. Thom Yorke’s voice isn’t exactly easy to replicate, after all!
All silly mistakes aside, “Friend of a Friend” is a great track, perfect for the grey Tuesday I’m experiencing at the moment. It’s a song that strikes a perfect balance between light, floating sections and more intense, grounding ones. The way the chords move remind me of the way a dandelion’s seeds scatter when you blow on it, how they float for a moment only to fall to the ground eventually. As with most Radiohead songs, it spends time building itself up, up, and away, overwhelming the listener with literal screams and figurative turmoil, before stripping itself bare, leaving nothing but a piano and a voice. By adding subtle strings behind these elements, the song ends in a resolution, one that leaves you feeling satisfied but still a little creeped out. What did you expect?!
“Friend of a Friend” begins with a thrumming bass that mirrors the vocal line, and I feel like that was a great decision. It’s not too long of a time that it’s just the bass and the vocal, but I like how it gives the song a jazzy, organic feel. My other favorite instrumental element is the drums, because they’re played softly in a style that reminds me of the ripples you get in a creek when you skip rocks. They lift up the melancholy, defeated feel of the song to a more rounded experience, one that is fully immersive. The final aspect of the tune that I really liked was the way the chords move against the vocal in the verses. I don’t know if it’s just more prominent in this song than others, but “Friend of a Friend” seems to be one of the few songs I’ve heard where the chords move with the lead vocals, allowing for the instrumental and voice to become one organism that moves together in a uniquely interesting way.
“Friend of a Friend” is a utility song, meaning it’s a great soundtrack for a grey day, a plane liftoff, or maybe even a routine bus ride to the same destination as always. It’s at the perfect length, a little longer than normal but still short enough to keep you engaged and ready to repeat it. It certainly makes me look forward to their forthcoming album.
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