Friend of a Friend (Smile song)

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.^[2]

"Friend of a Friend" begins with Yorke singing over a "meandering" bassline, Jonny Greenwood enters on piano and Tom Skinner enters on drums.^[2] The song also features saxophone by the American jazz composer Robert Stillman and strings performed by the London Contemporary Orchestra.^[3] 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.^[4]

Exclaim! described "Friend of a Friend" as "more twisting and jazzy" than the Smile's other material.^[2] 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",^[5] and likened it to the work of Randy Newman or Ben Folds.^[6] He likened the strings to "A Day in the Life" by the Beatles.^[5] The Guardian critic Alexis Petridis said it had "the relaxed charm of an early 70s singer-songwriter album" and likened it to Paul McCartney.^[7] Writing for NME, Liberty Dunworth said it had an "ethereal atmosphere ... which gradually develops".^[8]

"Friend of a Friend" was released on 9 January 2024 as the third single from the Smile's second album, Wall of Eyes.^[5] The music video, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, has the Smile performing for a room of children.^[9] 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.^[10]

Chris DeVille of Stereogum cited "Friend of a Friend" as one of their favourites on Wall of Eyes.^[5] 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".^[11] 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".^[12] 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".^[4]

Credits adapted from liner notes.^[13]