Friend of a Friend (The Smile song)

"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.

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.

Composition
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.

"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. The song also features saxophone by the American jazz composer Robert Stillman and strings performed by the London Contemporary Orchestra. 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.

Exclaim! described "Friend of a Friend" as "more twisting and jazzy" than the Smile's other material. 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", and likened it to the work of Randy Newman or Ben Folds. He likened the strings to "A Day in the Life" by the Beatles. The Guardian chief music critic Alexis Petridis wrote that it was "almost McCartneyesque", with "the relaxed charm of an early 70s singer-songwriter album". Writing for NME, Liberty Dunworth said it had an "ethereal atmosphere ... which gradually develops".

Release
"Friend of a Friend" was released on 9 January 2024 as the third single from the Smile's second album, Wall of Eyes. The music video, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, has the Smile performing for a room of children. 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.

Reception
Chris Deville of Stereogum cited "Friend of a Friend" as one of their favourites on Wall of Eyes. 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". 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". 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".

Personnel
Credits adapted from liner notes

The Smile
 * Jonny Greenwood – guitars, bass, piano, synthesisers, orchestral arrangements, cello, Max MSP
 * Tom Skinner – drums, synthesisers, percussion
 * Thom Yorke – voice, guitars, bass, piano, synthesisers, lyrics

Production
 * Sam Petts-Davies – production, engineering, mixing
 * Oli Middleton – engineering
 * Tom Bailey – orchestral engineering
 * Pete Clements – studio tech
 * Joe Wyatt – Abbey Road recording, assistant engineering
 * Tom Ashpitel – Abbey Road recording
 * Greg Calbi – mastering

Additional musicians
 * London Contemporary Orchestra, led by Eloisa-Fleur Thom
 * Hugh Brunt – conducting
 * Robert Stillman – clarinet, saxophone
 * Pete Wareham – flute