The Smile have had a busy weekend of being super cryptic across their social media channels, beginning with a tweet from Friday (August 23) that read, "BOJUTZMKZSKYZGXZKJ." To most, that is just an alphabet-soup keysmash, but it is among the clues that folks over on Reddit have deciphered to reveal what appears to be a near-complete album tracklist.
Earlier this month, the Smile quietly surprise-released a new 12-inch featuring new songs "Don't Get Me Started" and "The Slip" — their first fresh material since they released their sophomore album, Wall of Eyes, in January. Subsequently, they released a music video for the former track, while "The Slip" currently remains a vinyl exclusive.
Across social media platforms including Instagram, TikTok, Discord, Threads and Facebook this weekend, the band posted different visuals that, again, don't make much sense to the lay person seeing them show up on their feeds; but things are different over on Reddit and a decoding venture — seemingly spearheaded by a fittingly mysterious user who goes by ManinCloak — has revealed eight of the potential song titles for a possible 10-track album.
Generously, ManinCloak also offered explanations for the cryptic messages — like the Twitter clue being a Caesar cipher that revealed "Don't Get Me Started" as Track Six, and a flickering image of a Windows 95 setup screen being a Pigpen cipher that revealed "The Slip" as Track Eight.
Find ManinCloak's slides explaining the cryptology below, as well as the potential LP3 tracklist he and the other Reddit sleuths have decoded.
1. ?
2. Instant Psalm
3. Zero Sum
4. Colours Fly
5. Just Eyes and Mouth
6. Don't Get Me Started
7. Tiptoe
8. The Slip
9. ?
10. Bodies Laughing