After debuting it at the Montreux Jazz Festival last year, the Smile have officially released the new song “Bending Hectic.” The trio recorded the studio version of the track at London’s Abbey Road Studios this year. Sam Petts-Davies—who’s worked with Thom Yorke, Radiohead, Frank Ocean, and more—produced the track, and the London Contemporary Orchestra played strings. Listen to “Bending Hectic” below.

“Bending Hectic” is the first single from the Smile since they released their debut, A Light for Attracting Attention, last year. The band did not include the song on its Montreaux Jazz Festival live album.

Sam Petts-Davies’ work with Radiohead stretches back to the mid-2010s when he served as a recording engineer on Jonny Greenwood’s Junun. He continued his engineer work with Radiohead on the abandoned James Bond song “Spectre,” 2016’s A Moon Shaped Pool, and the retrospective OK Computer OKNOTOK 1997 2017. Petts-Davies has also contributed to Thom Yorke’s Suspiria, Frank Ocean’s Blonde, and more.

Read about A Light for Attracting Attention at No. 21 on Pitchfork’s “The 50 Best Albums of 2022.”