Squid arrived at 2021's
Bright Green Field with heaps of momentum, surviving the hype to deliver an invigorating debut of manic energy and tension. Two years later, the British combo returns with
O Monolith, a more streamlined, though still
Squid-like sophomore set that nurtures their innate curiosity while still feeding their appetite for chaos. Written in the immediate aftermath of their previous release, the structures of
O Monolith were worked out on-stage, then later hammered into their final shapes at
Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios in rural Wiltshire.
Squid's longtime collaborator,
Dan Carey, was on hand to produce. The most immediate shift in their sound is an increased emphasis on melody and harmonic structure. That's not to say frontman/drummer
Ollie Judge has abandoned his idiosyncratic singsong shouting, but located within the woozy prog rock of "Swing (In a Dream)" and the pulsing dirge "After the Flash" are carefully built tunes that signal something of a sea change for the band. On the standout "Siphon Song," an eerie vocoder track is juxtaposed with bucolic choral parts, slowly building into a squalling typhoon of sound. The funky swarming groove of "Undergrowth" revisits the jaunty bark of
Squid's earlier releases, while still pushing them into new territory. Reprising her collaboration from their debut is singer
Martha Skye Murphy, along with new foils
Roger Bolton (
Real World's resident technologist) and
Tortoise's
John McEntire, who mixed the album. All of this adds up to another well-made record that evolved from
Squid's origins. ~ Timothy Monger
