Trying to pin Otherling down to one genre is a losing game. Square Wild make you think you’ve got the album figured out, then suddenly take a left turn and blow the whole thing wide open. The title says it all: something that sits just outside definition, that odd piece that never quite fits. Instead of smoothing that out, the band lean into it and make it part of who they are.
Hard rock is the backbone, but that’s really just the starting point. From there, Otherling swerves through funk, prog, psychedelia, metal, ska and dub without ever sounding like it’s ticking genres off a list. That makes sense when you look at what feeds into the band, from Lucy Shevchuk’s love of Rush to funk, reggae, tech metal, post-rock and electronic music elsewhere in the mix. The songs keep shape-shifting as they go: a riff comes in hard, drops into something more psychedelic, returns heavier, or suddenly kicks into ska. You can hear Queens of the Stone Age in some of the guitar work, but they’re just one colour in a much bigger picture. And that’s where the theatrical side of Square Wild really comes through. Not in some constant cabaret aesthetic, but in the way these songs are staged. They rise, fall, change scenery and pull the rug just when you think you know what’s coming next.
The lyrics do much the same. “Shadow Puppets” kicks the door in with a swipe at filter culture, likes and the constant pressure to sell a perfect version of yourself. “Pins and Mould” takes aim at inequality, while “Kill the King” turns its attention to consumerism and exploitation. Then there’s “Proper Gander”, a full-on attack on propaganda, social media fakery and the bullshit we’re fed to keep us in line. Elsewhere, things get more personal and more unsettling. “Sailor” is about losing your way, “The Drifter” moves through a nocturnal, almost vampiric world, and “Malleus” heads straight into witchcraft, seduction and control. Masks, puppets, monsters, sirens, fire…Otherling is full of people trying to work out who they are while something, or someone, keeps pulling the strings.
Then “Masquerade” turns up with one last trick. Hard rock, prog, metal, ska, dance rhythms, Spanish guitar and theatricality dialled all the way up. It feels like Square Wild shouting “ladies and gentlemen, that’s the show” while still refusing to actually leave the stage.
Otherling is weird, but not because Square Wild are trying too hard to be weird. It’s weird because this is simply what they sound like. And by the time the curtain finally comes down, you’re already waiting for the next performance.
The curtain’s back up, hear Otherling in full here
Enjoy Square Wild on Website | Instagram | YouTube | Bandcamp | Facebook