Next Friday, May 7th, Squid will release their debut album, Bright Green Field, via Warp Records. Ahead of its release, they present a new single, “Pamphlets,” and announce their first-ever US tour. Squid have long been praised for their kinetic live shows, recently being named one of the best bands at SXSW 2021 by The New York Times and Paste. New single “Pamphlets” further previews this energy. It “concludes [Bright Green Field] with eight minutes of Can-ish skyward populsion – the delirious release which justifies all the foregoing tension” (MOJO). Squid drummer and lyricist Ollie Judge elaborates: “It’s about all the rubbish right-wing propaganda you get through your front door. It imagines a person with that as their only source of news being taken over by these pamphlets.”
Each single – “Pamphlets,” “Paddling,” and “Narrator” – shows that Bright Green Field is a debut of towering scope and ambition. Produced by Dan Carey, Bright Green Field is deeply considered, paced and intricately constructed. The five band members – Louis Borlase (guitars/vocals), Oliver Judge (drums/vocals), Arthur Leadbetter (keyboards/strings/ percussion), Laurie Nankivell (bass/brass) and Anton Pearson (guitars/vocals) – worked as a unit, playing an equal and vital role in its creation.
Squid’s music has often been a reflection of the tumultuous world we live in. As an album title, Bright Green Field conjures an almost tangible imagery of pastoral England. However, it’s something of a decoy that captures the band’s fondness for paradox and juxtaposition. Although the geography of Bright Green Field is an imaginary cityscape built from monolithic concrete buildings and dystopian visions, it’s also a joyous and emphatic record that marries the uncertainties of the world with a curious sense of exploration.
Watch the “Narrator” feat. Martha Skye Murphy Video
Listen to “Paddling”
Pre-order Bright Green Field
Squid Tour Dates
Tue. Sept. 7 – Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2
Thu. Sept. 9 – Bristol, UK @ Marble Factory
Fri. Sept. 10 – Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall
Thu. Sept. 23 – London, UK @ Printworks
Fri. Sept. 24 – Birmingham, UK @ The Crossing
Sat. Sept. 25 – Nottingham, UK @ Rock City
Mon. Sept. 27 – Newcastle, UK @ NUSU
Tue. Sept. 28 – Glasgow, UK @ SW3
Wed. Sept. 29 – Belfast, UK @ Empire
Thu. Sept. 30 – Dublin, IE @ Button Factory
Sun. Oct. 3 – Cardiff, UK @ Tramshed
Mon. Oct. 4 – Southampton, UK @ 1865
Tue. Oct. 5 – Exeter, UK @ The Phoenix
Thu. Oct. 7 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
Fri. Oct. 8 – Brussels, BE @ Botanique
Sat. Oct. 9 – Paris, FR @ Trabendo
Mon. Oct. 11 – Cologne, DE @ Bumann & Sohn
Tue. Oct. 12 – Hamburg, DE @ Molotow Skybar
Fri. Oct. 15 – Malmo, SE @ Plan B
Sat. Oct. 16 – Stockholm, SE @ Melodybox
Mon. Oct. 18 – Berlin, DE @ Berghain Kantine
Tue. Oct. 19 – Prague, CZ @ Underdogs’
Thu. Oct. 21 – Munich, DE @ Heppel & Ettlich
Sat. Oct. 23 – Zurich, CH @ Bogen F
Sun. Oct. 24 – Düdingen, CH @ Bad Bonn
Mon. Oct. 25 – Milan, IT @ Magnolia
Tue. Oct. 25 – Bologna, IT @ Locomotiv
Thu. Oct. 28 – Barcelona, ES @ Upload
Fri. Oct. 29 – Madrid, ES @ Independence
Sat. Oct. 30 – Vigo, ES @ Masterclub
Tue. Nov. 9 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
Wed. Nov. 10 – New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
Fri. Nov. 12 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern
Sat. Nov. 13 – Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
Wed. Nov. 17 – Los Angeles, CA @ Moroccan Lounge
Fri. Nov. 19 – Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room
Sat. Nov. 20 – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop
Mon. Nov. 22 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir
Tue. Nov. 23 – Seattle, WA @ Crocodile
Praise for Squid
“The guitarist delivered barbed lines and outbursts of scrabbling chords; the keyboardist chose piercing, nagging tones; the band shared dissonant odd-meter vamps or locked into compulsive, motoric repetitions. Songs about feeling thwarted and controlled fought back, furiously.”
– New York Times [Best Acts of SXSW]
“‘Narrator’ locks into a hyper-groove, melding glistening melodies with agitated noise, with the rest of [Bright Green Field] swinging between wild abandon and thoughtful restraint.”
– Uncut (9/10)
“You don’t so much listen to a Squid song as you get tangled in it. The Brighton five-piece scramble eccentric instruments with more orthodox rock equipment, and the end result
is an oddly exacting clamor.” – Pitchfork
“[‘Narrator’] is one of the most exciting rock payoffs in recent memory.”
– Entertainment Weekly
“[Bright Green Field] could be post-punk record of the year.” – The Needle Drop
“[Bright Green Field is] wildly imaginative and expansive.” – The FADER