2024 song by the Smile From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Friend of a Friend" is a song by the English rock band the Smile, released on 9 January 2024 by XL Recordings. It was the third single released from the Smile's second album, Wall of Eyes. The music video was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.
| "Friend of a Friend" | ||||
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| Single by the Smile | ||||
| from the album Wall of Eyes | ||||
| Released | 9 January 2024 | |||
| Studio | Abbey Road Studios | |||
| Length | 4:35 | |||
| Label | XL | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Sam Petts-Davies | |||
| The Smile singles chronology | ||||
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The Smile wrote "Friend of a Friend" on tour and first performed it in 2022. It features piano, saxophone and strings. Critics likened it to the work of the Beatles and 1970s singer-songwriters.
The Smile first performed "Friend of a Friend" on 16 May, 2022, in Zagreb, Croatia. The singer, Thom Yorke, said they had written it that day.[1]
"Friend of a Friend" has Yorke singing over a "meandering" bassline, before he is joined by Jonny Greenwood on piano and Tom Skinner on drums.[1] The song also features saxophone by the American jazz composer Robert Stillman and strings performed by the London Contemporary Orchestra.[2] The lyrics were inspired by footage of Italians singing on their balconies during the COVID-19 lockdowns, and criticise cronyism in the British Conservative Party.[3]
Exclaim! described "Friend of a Friend" as "more twisting and jazzy" than the Smile's other material.[1] In Stereogum, Chris DeVille said it was a "bit of a curveball where the Smile is concerned", describing it as "off-kilter 70s-style piano-pop",[4] and likened it to the work of Randy Newman or Ben Folds.[5] He likened the strings to "A Day in the Life" by the Beatles.[4] The Guardian chief music critic Alexis Petridis wrote that it was "almost McCartneyesque", with "the relaxed charm of an early 70s singer-songwriter album".[6] Writing for NME, Liberty Dunworth said it had an "ethereal atmosphere ... which gradually develops".[7]
"Friend of a Friend" was released on 9 January 2024 as the third single from the Smile's second album, Wall of Eyes.[4] The music video, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, has the Smile performing for a room of children.[8] It premiered on 19 January at the Prince Charles Cinema in London, as part of a series of screenings at independent cinemas around the world to promote Wall of Eyes.[9]
Chris DeVille of Stereogum cited "Friend of a Friend" as one of their favourites on Wall of Eyes.[4] While the Wall Street Journal critic Mark Richardson felt that Wall of Eyes was "insular and closed off", he wrote that "Friend of a Friend" was a "welcome exception, a rare and lovely excursion for Mr. Yorke into classic singer-songwriter terrain".[10] Robin Murray of Clash said that "Friend of a Friend" showed the Smile at "their most direct – succinct (by their towering standards) it achieves a real sense of dynamism".[11] In Pitchfork, Jazz Monroe wrote that it was “divine, even hummable" and Yorke's "deftest lunge for your heartstrings" since the Radiohead song "True Love Waits".[3]
Credits adapted from liner notes[12]
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The Smile
Production
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Additional musicians
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