British art-rock group Squid have released a short film entitled O Monolith, a two minute clip designed as an accompaniment to their album of the same name which was released earlier in 2023.
Directed by Ivana Bobic and featuring a choreographed performance from queer multidisciplinary artist Ted Rogers, the film takes place in a pastoral English landscape with its soundtrack taken and reworked from O Monolith album track ‘After the Flash’.
Taking themes from the album, the short film explores the idea of rave culture partnered with the bucolic setting of the Kentish countryside, while presenting itself as a modern folk horror reminiscent of Ben Wheatley’s A Field in England.
This juxtaposition of ‘rave and ritual’ was something that Bobic wanted to explore to serve as an expression of the record as a whole, stating that “the music is so rich in ideas with huge highs and lows and, at the same time, is so abstract”.
This is not the first multimedia offering from Squid in support of the record; they previously shared a video game to accompany the release of single ‘Undergrowth’ and also collaborated with writer Paul Ewen and comedian Tim Key to create a short story entitled Lessons that served as an accompaniment to O Monolith.
The band are set to embark on a tour of the UK & Ireland this month, with a sold out show at Troxy ending off a remarkable 2023 for the five-piece.
Watch the clip below.
