Squid has announced their second album, O Monolith, out June 9th via Warp Records, and present its lead single/video, “Swing (In A Dream).” In 2021, upon the release of their debut album, Bright Green Field, the British quintet of Louis Borlase, Ollie Judge, Arthur Leadbetter, Laurie Nankivell, and Anton Pearson, established themselves as one of the most innovative new bands from the UK, live and on record, “eschewing individual showmanship in favor of scorching collective peaks” (Pitchfork). Produced by long-time collaborator, Dan Carey, and mixed by John McEntire (of Tortoise), their sophomore album, O Monolith, teems with melodic epiphanies and is a musical evocation of environment, domesticity and self-made folklore. Like its predecessor, it is dense and tricksy – but also warmer, with a winding, questioning nature. A sense of open conversation is cultivated: this is unmistakably music made by friends, as The Stranger hailed, “Squid’s members display a refreshing lack of hierarchy. Everyone’s crucial to the impactful sound.”
Squid began work on O Monolith only two weeks after the release of Bright Green Field while the band were on tour in 2021. “Without that tour we wouldn’t have any of these tracks,” says Judge, of the fully seated, socially-distanced shows that allowed them to test out work-in-progress music. “People were so looking forward to seeing live music that we thought we could just play anything, even if it was unfinished. In some form or another we played about 80% of O Monolith, mostly without lyrics.” The songs continued to come together in rehearsal rooms around Bristol, where the band were based at the time, eventually moving to Peter Gabriel’s luxe Real World studios in Wiltshire. This change in environment further pushed the development of the band’s sound from claustrophobic post-punk to something more free-flowing and spacious.
The band has shared the single “Swing (In A Dream)” which was inspired by a dream Judge had about a painting called The Swing by Jean-Honoré Fragonard. “In my dream, I was in the painting but it was flooded and everything was floating away,” he explains. The song is full of bold moments that build on intricate details into an explosive climax. Beginning with an airy, cascading synth line and electronic, percussive stabs, the verse grows over Judge’s most melodic vocal to date. The accompanying video, directed by Yoonha Park, is an absurd take on Where’s Waldo? featuring friends and family of the band. “I was interested in exploring visual ideas from Where’s Waldo, Richard Scarry and Brueghel as a means to express anxieties about the climate crisis,” says Park.
O Monolith Tracklist
1. Swing (In A Dream)
2. Devil’s Den
3. Siphon Song
4. Undergrowth
5. The Blades
6. After The Flash
7. Green Light
8. If You Had Seen The Bull’s Swimming Attempts You Would Have Stayed Away
Squid Tour Dates
Fri. May 5 – Wrexhman, WS @ Focus Wales
Sun. June 18 – Wicklow, IE @ Beyond The Pale
Fri. June 30 – Werchter, BE @ Rock Werchter
Sun. July 2 – Lars, DE @ Fusion
Fri. July 21 – Hertfordshire, UK @ Standon Calling
Sat. July 22 – Oxfordshire, UK @ Truck Festival
Wed. Aug. 16 – Portugal, ES @ Paredes De Coura
Fri. Aug. 18 – Brecon, WS @ Green Man
Sat. Sep. 2 – Vlieland, NL @ Into The Great Wide Open
Fri. Oct. 13 – Bristol, UK @ SWX
Sat. Oct. 14 – Bristol, UK @ SWX
Mon. Oct. 16 – Birmingham, UK @ Town Hall
Tue. Oct. 17 – Leeds, UK @ O2 Academy Leeds
Thu. Oct. 19 – Manchester, UK @ New Century
Sat. Oct. 21 – Glasgow, UK @ Barrowland Ballroom
Sun. Oct. 22 – Newcastle, UK @ Boiler Shop
Wed. Nov. 1 – London, UK @ Troxy
