New Music Reviews: Nadia Reid and Squid

This week’s acts have toned down their idiosyncrasies as their careers have progressed. Nadia Reid has transitioned from a serious-minded singer-songwriter to warm pop songs. Squid’s music has become less edgy and experimental.

Nadia Reid

Enter Now Brightness

2025, 8/10
Dunedin singer-songwriter Nadia Reid was part of a wave of excellent New Zealand solo artists who arrived in the 2010s. I’ve also covered Tiny Ruins and Marlon Williams in this column. She started making dark, stripped-back records.

Reid recently told Rolling Stone, “I think for my first two records, I was really serious, heavy, angry and sad.” Motherhood has mellowed Reid out, although she still has her gorgeously rich voice and unique lyrical perspective.

You are a gothic sailor, baby
I see you in glory maybe
There was a chord of pure delight

No sign of retribution
No need for resolution
You are the light that leads me home

Cry on Cue, Nadia Reid

As the title indicates, Enter Now Brightness is much closer to a pop album than Reid’s earlier work. But the offbeat instrumentation adds personality, ‘Baby Bright’ is coloured by horns and stabs of choir. The piano ballad ‘Cry on Cue’ might be overly sentimental in the hands of a less interesting writer, but Reid’s vocal performance and unique lyrical perspective make it enticing.

‘Hotel Santa Cruz’ is a second-half highlight, poppy and upbeat by Reid’s standards. Happy material dominates the album, but fans of older, sadder Nadia will appreciate downbeat tunes like ‘Even Now’.

Reid’s convincing, whether she’s making sad music or happy music.

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Squid

Cowards

2025, 7/10
Brighton art-rock band Squid started their career with the ambitious Bright Green Field. With exotic instrumentation and Krautrock-inspired grooves, it was intense and fascinating. On Cowards, their third album, they continue to tone down their approach.

On Cowards, Squid often recalls 1970s King Crimson. Their playing is abrasive and complex, and they use orchestral instruments like violins. Drummer Ollie Judge’s vocals are less extreme than before, sweetened with backing vocals. The songwriting isn’t strong enough to compensate for the less exotic sound.

In previous records, we’ve used loads of synths and crazy instruments that a lot of people haven’t heard of. This is the first record where we’ve not been obsessed with doing that. There’s a reason pianos and acoustic guitars are popular: They sound really good.

Ollie Judge, Bandcamp interview

The best tracks are often the most energetic. ‘Cro-Magnon Man’ is surprisingly funky, driven by a chunky bass groove. On ‘Showtime!’, Judge plays a sleazy showbiz figure, inspired by Andy Warhol. Meanwhile, ‘Fieldworks II’ sounds the closest to King Crimson with its violin and intricate guitars.

The apeggiating synths of ‘Crispy Skin get the record off to a great start, even if the rest of the track is less enticing. Clarissa Connelly, their Warp Records labelmate, joins them on the closing epic ‘Well Met (Fingers Through the Fence)’.

Cowards has its moments, but lacks excitement.

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