SQUID
Release new single “The Blades”
Music video directed by Kasper Häggström
Starring Fresh Meat, Stath Lets Flats actress Charlotte Ritchie
New album O Monolith, out June 9 on Warp
Squid share new track, “The Blades”, the final single to be released ahead of their sophomore album, O Monolith, out June 9th via Warp Records. [pre-order here] The single is accompanied by a video directed by Kasper Häggström (Radiohead, Kelly Lee Owens) featuring rising British actress Charlotte Ritchie famed for her roles in Fresh Meat, Stath Lets Flats and Ghosts.
Similarly to Squid, Häggström’s work blurs the lines between high-concept philosophies and the humdrum of domesticity. Häggström video for “The Blades” sees the protagonist, played brilliantly by Ritchie, locked in a Kafka-esque nightmare as she sits ludicrously at the back of an imaginary queue in an empty waiting room due to a mischievous child’s prank. The passage of time and cruel absurdity of the situation triggers an out of body experience and release before returning to her Sisyphean plight.
Häggström on his video: “At last we get to work together! Thank you for trusting in my idea and for presenting me with such a great track from your latest album. This concept is one I’ve been thinking of for a while now and it fits seamlessly with the track.”
“The Blades” presents the dynamic range of singer Ollie Judge’s vocal delivery, a marked change across O Monolith. Judge credits it as his favourite Squid song thus far. “It’s a lot more vulnerable than stuff we’ve previously done, which can be quite a daunting thing. Dan [Carey] and I were talking about vocal delivery and how it would be good to not completely let myself go, and not fall back on shouting because it’s more instantly gratifying. The end of the song is really soft and tender and I don’t think we’ve done something like that before,” comments Judge. “On the surface it’s a song about police brutality with the last section kind of inspired by The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe, although I’ve never read the book, I’ve just seen The Simpsons’ spoof of it. Narratively it follows a police helicopter pilot’s day, ending with him in bed hearing another pilot circling the skies as if he were taunting him. There’s a deeper meaning in there somewhere of my fear of ego, but I’m still working out which bit of the song that’s coming from.”
Produced by Dan Carey, mixed by John McEntire from Tortoise and recorded at Real World, O Monolith tackles themes and issues such as environmental peril, morality and English folklore. Expansive, evocative and hugely varied, O Monolith retains Squid’s restless, enigmatic spirit. It’s a reflection of the outsized progression of a band always looking to the future. “We’re quite a musically stubborn band, and in an endearing way it’s a stubborn record,” says Judge. Like its namesake, O Monolith is vast and strange; alive with endless possible interpretations.
Squid have recently announced a Winter North American headline tour and a series of intimate shows partnering with record shops around the release of the album. Full list of UK, EU and North American dates listed below.
O Monolith Tracklist
Swing (In A Dream)
Devil’s Den
Siphon Song
Undergrowth
The Blades
After The Flash
Green Light
If You Had Seen The Bull’s Swimming Attempts You Would Have Stayed Away
LIVE DATES
Instore and Outstore Dates
10th June – Resident Brighton
11th June – Rough Trade Bristol
12th June – Drift Records outstore at The Barrel House, Totnes
13th June – Bear Tree Records outstore at Foundry Studio, Sheffield
14th June – Crash Records outstore at Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
15th June – Rough Trade East, London – Matinee Show
15th June – Rough Trade East, London – Evening Show – SOLD OUT
2023 Tour Dates
16.06 – 8 Festival, Vilnius, Lithuania
18.06 – Beyond The Pale, Wicklow, Ireland
30.06 – Rock Werchter, Werchter, Belgium
02.07 – Fusion, Larz, Germany
21.07 – Standon Calling, Hertfordshire, UK
22.07 – Truck Festival, Oxfordshire, UK
05.08 – RALLY Festival – London, UK
12.08 – Boardmasters, Cornwall, UK
16.08 – Paredes De Coura, Portugal
18.08 – Green Man, Brecon, Wales
24.08 – Canela Party, Torremolinos, Spain
25.08 – Nox Orae, La Tour-de-Peliz, Switzerland
02.09 – Into The Great Wide Open, Vlieland, Netherlands
05.09 – Germany, Die Kantine Biergarten, Cologne, Germany
06.09 – ROCKHAL, Esch Sur Alzette, Luxembourg
07.09 – Ancienne Belgique (AB), Brussels, Belgium
08.09 – TivoliVredenburg Ronda, Utrecht, Netherlands
09.09 – KNUST, Hamburg, Germany
11.09 – VoxHall, Aarhus, Denmark
12.09 – VEGA, Copenhagen, Denmark
13.09 – Festsaal Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany
15.09 – UT Connewitz, Leipzig, Germany
16.09 – Mascotte, Zürich, Switzerland
17.09 – Poplar Festival, Tronto, Italy
19.09 – Santeria Toscana 31, Milan, Italy
21.09 – Sala Apolo, Barcelona, Spain
22.09 – Ram Club, Valencia, Spain
23.09 – Sala Copernico, Madrid, Spain
24.09 – Rock School Barbey, Bordeaux, France
25.09 – Élysée Montmartre, Paris, France
27.09 – Le 106, Rouen, France
13.10 – SWX, Bristol, UK
14.10 – SWX, Bristol, UK
16.10 – Town Hall, Birmingham, UK
17.10 – O2 Academy Leeds, Leeds, UK
18.10 – New Century, Manchester, UK
21.10 – Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow, UK
22.10 – Boiler Shop, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
01.11 – Troxy, London, UK
04.11 – Iceland Airwaves, Reykjavik, Iceland
2024 Tour Dates
02.02 – Austin, TX @ The Parish
03.02 – Dallas, TX @ Dada
05.02 – Nashville, TN @ Basement East
06.02 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
08.02 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
09.02 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
10.02 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel
14.02 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
15.02 – Montreal, QC @ SAT
16.02 – Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre
18.02 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
19.02 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line
23.02 – Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall
24.02 – Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre
25.02 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
27.02 – San Francisco, CA @ Regency Ballroom
01.03 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Belasco
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