Squid – The Hearth and the Circle Round Fire Review

Releasing a fantastic studio album was, at one point, cause to celebrate and rest. Not now, though. Not when artists must fight for a brief flash of contemporary relevance. Every artist is doing it, trying to wheedle their way into the heart of a listener with only a few moments to do so. A sickening development of the modern world, one of many hang-ups of the cultural scope that musicians, filmmakers, and authors must now contend with. Squid, whose exceptional Cowards release would, in normal times, be enough to carry them through the year, has already released their latest single. We must be grateful for the consistency, the extra pieces to come from artists, but we must know why it happens. The Hearth and the Circle Round Fire is an honest release, one which is tinged, like with every other artist, by the need to offer more.  

Post-album release singles from Squid are becoming a recurring release for the band. Fugue marked an outstanding epilogue for O Monolith and now The Hearth and the Circle Round Fire brings the same to Cowards. Whether this, too, is a leftover, is not quite clear. The chances are that it is. But then, does it not fit the concept Cowards offered? It has tangible links to the core theme of the album, benefitting those escaping into music, away from the charmless towns or the insincere positions their lives are in. The Hearth and the Circle Round Fire maintains a quality Squid has been working hard on, and their once more ruthless system of cutting songs from their final releases appears to be at work here. Exciting, intoxicating, the out-there art-rock tone taken on The Hearth and the Circle Round Fire may be too heavy compared to the rest of Cowards, but in isolation it marks a remarkable moment for the band.  

A surge of experimental noise, the rush of electronics on the brink, is what Squid finds here. Volatile performance is the result of The Hearth and the Circle Round Fire. Nothing to do with the fires, other than to kindle the one Squid already lit with Cowards. Their art rock fundamentals, that confident and outlandish tone is unwavering. We are all the better for hearing it. The Hearth and the Circle Round Fire is more a display of instrumental fever than it is a song with strong lyrics. It does not quite get the balance right, but even then, it marks a brilliant track to lose yourself in. That danceable quality is the core of this song. They have taken a leaf from the book of Courting and given their sound an electric shock, a tough to pull apart appeal which, once it is separated into its layers, is a truly rewarding track. 

Squid has proven themselves already with O Monolith and on Cowards they prepared a new sound which has far more depth to it, a much more satisfying edge. Forget the edit, half a song cannot offer the same intensity as the full-length version. Through the crashing soundscape Squid brings together here is a collage of everything fans already love about the band. Where we find ourselves is the “different place”, the percussion and guitar work found throughout a tremendous start, which soon gives way to sudden spots of brass and jazz. These are the genre overlaps Squid needs to explore as they continue forwards, with Cowards, with new music on the horizon. When we receive it is not of interest. What is of interest, right now, is where the group will take itself. The Hearth and the Circle Round Fire offers fans a closer style to their debut than it does Cowards, but the overlap between both projects is clear.