Saturday, February 13, 2021

Squid – 'Narrator' Single Review

For fans of: ‘Black Country, New Road’, ‘Dry Cleaning’ and ‘Do Nothing’.

After all of Squid’s esoteric groundwork over the past four years, we are all finally sitting on the cusp of a debut album… Squid have recently shared their single, 'Narrator', accompanied by their first official music video


The new track illustrates the “places, events and architecture” existing within the monolithic cityscape of their upcoming album, Brighter Green Field – set to release on the 7th of May.

 

'Narrator' has established a bit of a lane-switch for Squid. Despite their previous releases solely being concerned with light and playful storytelling, their new track is more interested in exploring deeper meanings. For instance, themes of space and place, making room for progression and nuances. Even the title of the album, Brighter Green Field, captures the paradoxical nature at the heart of Squid’s appeal!

 

In a recent press release, the band claimed that the song was inspired by the film A Long Day’s Journey Into Night, which poses the notion that the idea of objectivity has become splintered in a male-dominated world. The track blurs the boundaries between “memories, dreams and reality”, to exemplify how individuals tend refuse to engage with subjective truths, and instead create truths and realities that solely accommodate their own narratives.  

 

The featured vocalist, Martha Skye Murphy, plays the role of the woman throughout the song. Murphy’s verses illuminate the unreliable nature of the narrator, asserting that men view women within a sexist framework, to fulfil their own truths. Lyrically, Martha challenges the narrator by attempting to break free from the repressive framework that he has placed over her. The track reflects the underlying exploration of space and place, by presenting the hegemonic structures that women are placed within. 

 

The track maintains Squid’s discordant and groovy sound, often used to reflect the tumultuous world that we live in. Murphy’s vocals transition from mumbles of submission to deranged screeches of refrain. Murphy is not able to find solace alongside Judge’s repressive, out of kilter vocals – heightened by the notes of discordance and spacey synths in the periphery of the track. The shrill vocals, arpeggiated riffs and oscillation between the verses culminate rapidly – climaxing with a chaotic crescendo. Sonically, the track fluctuates between punk-funk and a swirling vortex of empty noise, generated by Judge’s and Murphy’s conflicting vocals. 'Narrator' portrays the bands refusal to allow repetition or creative stagnation to set in any time soon. 

 

While an influx of post-punk bands emerge from day to day, Squid continues to prove that they are one of the most idiosyncratic of the bunch. 

 

Aimee Dodd

Image: Instagram @Squidbanduk 

2 comments:

  1. freakin great review im citing this in my research paper lols xo

    ReplyDelete

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