Squid share dystopian single ‘Crispy Skin’ and announce new album ‘Cowards’

Squid have announced details of a new album called ‘Cowards’, and shared lead single ‘Crispy Skin’. Check it out below.

• READ MORE: Squid on new album ‘O Monolith’: “We’re all in the groove now: we’ve never been more confident”

Marking their third studio album, ‘Cowards’ is set for release on February 7, and explores nine stories where protagonists reckon with cults, charisma and apathy – with the band exploring the divide between right and wrong.

It is also set to see Squid push the boundaries of their sound, with the English art rock quintet exploring inspirations of folk, kosmische, psychedelia, jazz and electronics.

To celebrate the announcement, the band have shared the first preview of the record in the form of lead single ‘Crispy Skin’. The song comes as the opening track for the LP, and takes on inspiration from a dystopian world.

“Am I the bad one? / Yep, yes I am / I couldn’t eat another thing / No more pages and pages of crispy skin,” sings frontman Ollie Judge, taking on a tense and paranoid sound. The lyrics of the song come partly inspired by the novel ‘Tender Is The Flesh’, which depicts a dystopian vision where cannibalism is the norm.

“‘Crispy Skin’ was lyrically inspired by a dystopian novel I read where cannibalism becomes the societal norm and humans are manufactured and sold in supermarkets,” Judge explained of the inspiration. “I think when most people read books like these they picture themselves as the sort of person that would take the moral high ground within these narratives.

“The track was written about how the reality of having a moral-compass in these stories of desperation and horror would be extremely difficult.”

Check out the music video for the single above, which is directed by Takashi Ito and adapts his award-winning experimental short film Zone (1995).

As for the album as a whole, ‘Cowards’ was recorded at Church Studios in Crouch End with Mercury Prize-winning producer Marta Salogni and Grace Banks. It also comes produced by Dan Carey, who also recorded the band’s first two albums.

Mixed in Seattle and mastered in New York, contributions to the record also come from Danish experimental songsmith Clarissa Connelly, Tony Njoku (composer, pianist and singer), Rosa Brook from punk group Pozi, Zands Duggan (percussion), and Jonny Greenwood collaborators the Ruisi Quartet for violin, viola and cello.

“The range of sound allowed Squid to push out further, writing arrangements that build into crescendo before sheer drops into discrete melody,” reads a press release. “Fleeting voices in eerie rounds, evoke prehistoric song and nursery rhyme.” You can pre-order the album here and find the full tracklist below.

The ‘Cowards’ tracklist is:

1. ‘Crispy Skin’
2. ‘Building 650’
3. ‘Blood on the Boulders’
4. ‘Fieldworks I’
5. ‘Fieldworks II’
6. ‘Cro-Magnon Man’
7. ‘Cowards’
8. ‘Showtime!’
9. ‘Well Met (Fingers Through The Fence)’

The announcement of a new album comes as Squid are gearing up to tour across the UK next year.

The dates kick off in Liverpool on February 17, and continue throughout the month with shows in Manchester, Glasgow, Newcastle, Sheffield and more.

From there, they’ll close off the tour with five shows across the country in March and April. These start with a slot at Lido in Margate, and culminate with a gig at the Roundhouse in London on April 26. Visit here for remaining tickets.

In other Squid news, earlier this year the band announced that they had been forced to cancel upcoming tour dates, following a member of the band being involved in an accident.

Describing themselves as “extremely sad” to make the announcement, the band explained that “one of us was involved in an accident and has multiple facial fractures.” They said they were told it would be unsafe for the unnamed band member to fly, and that while they had looked into getting a replacement to fill in, “the nature of our music means that this is very difficult to arrange at a few days’ notice, and we would be unable to procure the necessary work permits in time.”

They continued, “We were massively looking forward to playing in these new cities and meeting our fans who have been so supportive, and this outcome is very disappointing to us all. We will work to come back and play these shows as soon as we can.”

Over the summer, Squid played a series of shows across the UK, Europe and South America, including a set at Glastonbury 2024. They also played North America earlier this year to tour their second album, ‘O Monolith’, which was released in June 2023.

NME gave the album a four-star review, calling it “a monument to daring artistic growth” and saying: “If Squid can make daring, experimental music sound as fun as this, then they will take some stopping.”

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