Last year, Squid released their sophomore album O Monolith. The post-punk freaks returned earlier this year with the one-off tune “Fugue (Bin Song),” and today they’re announcing a new LP titled Coward. The cannibalism-inspired lead single “Crispy Skin” is out now.

“‘Crispy Skin’ was lyrically inspired by a dystopian novel Tender Is The Flesh I read where cannibalism becomes the societal norm and humans are manufactured and sold in supermarkets,” lead vocalist/drummer Ollie Judge explains. “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.”

“If I was actually in that world, I probably would be the coward in this instance,” Judge adds (As someone who recently watched the series Yellowjackets, I have also been haunted by this topic lately). The six-and-a-half-minute sprawl overflows with coruscating synths, an infectious bassline, and gorgeous piano, growing into an uncontrollable whirlwind with each passing second. It’s accompanied by a music video by Takashi Ito, serving as an adaptation of his award-winning experimental 1995 short film Zone. He explains:

A film about a man without a face. His arms and legs bound with ropes, still without even a quiver in a white room. This man, enwrapped in wild delusions, is also a reconstruction of myself. A series of unusual scenes in this room that expresses what lies inside me. I tried to create a connection between memories, nightmares and violent images.

Squid recruited a team of contributors for Cowards: Danish experimental songwriter Clarissa Connelly; composer, pianist, and singer Tony Njoku; Rosa Brook of punk group Pozi; percussionist Zands Duggan; and the Ruisi Quartet for violin, viola, and cello. Marta Salogni, Grace Banks, and Dan Carey tackled production, with Tortoise drummer John McEntire on mixing and Heba Kadry on mastering.

Watch the “Crispy Skin” music video below.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Crispy Skin”
02 “Building 650”
03 “Blood On tThe Boulders”
04 “Fieldworks I”
05 “Fieldworks II”
06 “Cro-Magnon Man”
07 “Cowards”
08 “Showtime!”
09 “Well Met (Fingers Through The Fence)”

Cowards is out 2/7 via Warp Records.