Coming together in Brighton nearly six years ago, Squid are a lively, psych’y, post-punk bunch consisting of, Ollie Judge (Drums & Lead Vocals), Louis Borlase (Guitars & Vocals), Arthur Leadbetter (Keyboards, Strings, Percussion), Laurie Nankivell (Bass & Brass) and Anton Pearson (Guitars & Vocals).
Following their signing to Warp Records and last year’s singles Sludge and Broadcaster, the band have finally announced their debut album. Due this May, Bright Green Field was produced by Dan Carey (Fontaines DC, Black Midi, Kae Tempest) and features a quirky selection of field recordings incorporating church bells, a 30-person choir and a string ensemble featuring Emma-Jean Thackray and Lewis Evans of (local band to me) Black Country, New Road!
In a press release, frontman Ollie Judge has explained how, “the tracks illustrate the places, events, and architecture that exist within it. Previous releases were playful and concerned with characters, whereas this album is darker and more concerned with the place — the emotional depth of the music has deepened.”
Together with the album announcement comes first single, Narrator, which features the vocals of Martha Skye Murphy. At just over 8 minutes long, this offering maximises the contrasting effects of Ollie’s dramatic and slightly unhinged vocals with Martha’s grounded, hushed chants as melodies gather and explode all over the place.
Detailing the inspiration behind this new track, the band explained how the song was inspired by the 2019 film A Long Day’s Journey Into Night. “The song follows a man who is losing the distinction between memory, dream, and reality and how you can often mold your memories of people to fit a narrative that benefits your ego. Martha Skye-Murphy made the point that the unreliable narrator is, more often than not, a male who wishes to portray women as submissive characters in their story. After some discussions with Martha, she thought it’d be a good idea that she play the part of the woman wanting to break free from the dominating story the male has set.”
Listen above and pre-order a copy of Bright Green Field from here.
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