Squid formed in Brighton a few years back and comprises of Louis Borlase (guitar and vocals), Ollie Judge (drums and lead vocals), Arthur Leadbetter (keyboards, strings and percussion), Laurie Nankivell (bass and brass) and Anton Pearson (guitars and vocals).
The quintet have just dropped ‘Paddling’, the second single to be lifted from one of the year’s most highly anticipated (debut) albums ‘Bright Green Field’. Produced by Dan Carey, ‘Bright Green Field’ will be released on 7 May via Warp Records. Watch the ‘Paddling’ video HERE.
Premiered on the Annie Mac BBC Radio 1 show, ‘Paddling’ has long been a staple of their incendiary live show. This psych-motorik stomper is a reaction to being thrust into an adult world as friends suddenly turn their focus to careers. Built around a drum machine loop and pulsing synth line, sonic details pepper the track as it lurches between dynamic movements. An ever-unpredictable beast, Squid share vocal duties throughout the track with an infectious ease and confidence.
Squid on the track: “Written from two different perspectives, ‘Paddling’ is a song about the dichotomy between simple pleasures and decadent consumerism. Recounting a familiar scene from ‘The Wind In The Willows’, the song reminds us that although we are humans, we are also ultimately animals that are driven by both modern and primal instincts and how that has led to vanity and machismo around us in the everyday.”
‘Bright Green Field’ is an album of towering scope and ambition, it is deeply considered, paced and intricately constructed. With all band members playing such a vital and equal role, the album is very much the product of five heads operating as one.
The album features field recordings of ringing church bells, tooting bees, microphones swinging from the ceiling orbiting a room of guitar amps, a distorted choir of 30 voices, as well as a horn and string ensemble featuring the likes of Emma-Jean Thackray and Lewis Evans from Black Country, New Road. However, for all the innovative recording techniques, evolutionary leaps, lyrical themes, ideas and narratives that underpin the album, it’s also a joyous and emphatic record. One that marries the uncertainties of the world with a curious sense of exploration as it endlessly twists and turns down unpredictable avenues.
Pre-order ‘Bright Green Field’ HERE.
Squid have also announced an online performance as part of the official British Music Embassy SXSW Showcase airing on Friday 19 March. Further details HERE.
The band will also play the following dates in September and October:
SEPTEMBER 2021
Tue 07 BRIGHTON Concorde 2
Thu 09 BRISTOL Marble Factory
Fri 10 MANCHESTER Albert Hall
Thu 23 LONDON Printworks
Fri 24 BIRMINGHAM Crossing
Sat 25 NOTTINGHAM Rock City
Mon 27 NEWCASTLE NUSU
Tue 28 GLASGOW SWG3
Wed 29 BELFAST Empire
Thu 30 DUBLIN Button Factory
OCTOBER 2021
Sun 03 CARDIFF Tramshed
Mon 04 SOUTHAMPTON The 1865
Tue 05 EXETER Phoenix
Tickets for the Concorde 2 gig in Brighton on Tuesday 7th September 2021 can be purchased HERE.
Some bands might be tempted to include previous singles on their debut – the band had released two more in 2020 via ‘Sludge’ and ‘Broadcaster’ – but instead ‘Bright Green Field’ is completely new. This sense of limitlessness and perpetual forward motion is one of the key ingredients that makes Squid so loved by fans and critics alike, from BBC Radio 6 Music, who have A-listed previous singles ‘Match Bet’, ‘The Cleaner’ and ‘Houseplants’, to publications such as The Guardian, NME, The Face, The Quietus and countless others. The band was also on the longlist for the BBC Music Sound Of 2020 Poll.
Squid’s music – be it agitated and discordant or groove-locked and flowing – has often reflected the tumultuous world we live in and ‘Bright Green Field’ continues that. “This album has created an imaginary cityscape,” says Ollie Judge, who writes the majority of the lyrics and plays drums. “The tracks illustrate the places, events and architecture that exist within it. Previous projects were playful and concerned with characters, whereas this project is darker and more concerned with place – the emotional depth of the music has deepened.”
Website / Instagram / Facebook / Twitter / Bandcamp
