The Worm
Studio album by
HMLTD
Released7 April 2023 (2023-04-07)
StudioWormhole, Pony, Dock, Hermitage Works, RAK, Crouch End and Sleeper Sound (London)
Mike's Manhole (Hastings)
Antart and Artracks (Athens)
Genre
Length41:28
LabelLucky Number Music
ProducerHMLTD
HMLTD chronology
West of Eden
(2020)		 The Worm
(2023)
Singles from The Worm
  1. "Wyrmlands"
    Released: 31 January 2023
  2. "The End Is Now"
    Released: 7 March 2023
  3. "The Worm"
    Released: 4 April 2023
  4. "Days"
    Released: 15 May 2023

The Worm is the second studio by British art-rock band HMLTD. It was released on 7 April 2023 on Lucky Number Music. It is a rock opera style concept album about a worm swallowing England.

Three singles were released in the weeks ahead of the album's release: "Wyrmlands", "The End of Now" and "The Worm". They all have music videos directed by front man Henry Spychalski.

Concept

The Worm is a loose concept album set in an anachronistic version of Medieval England. Its populace is in peril, because the titular worm is bound to swallow them. According to Spychalski, the first single "Wyrmlands" "tells the story of a guerrilla resistance movement against the Worm. The lyrics recount their tales of subversion and subterfuge: counter-offensives, tortured confessions and haunting vignettes of the strange new land in which they find themselves."[1] In "The End Is Now", the worm has awoken and is about to swallow the English countryside.[2] The stripped-back ballad "Days" is a more intimate view into the mind of anti-worm leader Henry Spychalski. It references to a love interest whom he lost through the worm. "Saddest Worm Ever" makes repeated references to the efforts of killing the worm. The repeated line 'like a gun to the head' hints at a possible connection between the worm and depression. The Grunter Rebels, led by Spychalski, are briefly mentioned. Their crime, grunting and consuming worms, is punishable by death.

"Liverpool Street" breaks with the clear narrative chronology of the story. A spoken word narration, possibly made by a psychiatrist of a mental institution, is diagnosing Spychalski with "extremely volatile behaviour". It is revealed that he cannot distinguish between real and symbolic figures in the mind. The worm could therefore be interpreted as a stand-in for a mental illness, most likely depression. In order to overcome his struggle, Spychalski has to kill the worm. This battle is depicted from his point of view in the title track, "The Worm". Here, the worm is said to be "deep within yourselves" and to "swallow worlds". Spychalski called the song "the clearest admission that the album is a symbol of my depression and battle with it".[3] The longest song on album, "Past Life (Sinnerman's Song)" makes heavy references to religion and advised the narrator to "keep the faith". The spoken-word outro is depicting a cat cutting a worm in half. The narrator kneels down and brings the worm outside. He repeats "life is beautiful", showing Spychalskis process of healing. The closer "Lay Me Down" is a hopeful song in that according to Spychalski "[t]he narrator’s overcome his delusions and his demons [...] [he] made peace with himself. It’s a song at the end of the world."[4]

Music

The Worm covers a lot of different styles throughout the album. While single "Wyrmlands" with its heavy use of jazz instrumentation was often compared to adjacent South London band black midi, "The End is Now" is an art pop song that features a gospel choir. "Days" and "Liverpool Street" are relatively stripped-back piano ballads. "Saddest Worm Ever" is a art-rock song similar to the 2007 Radiohead album In Rainbows. Later the track list, "The Worm" and "Past Life (Sinnerman's Song)" are structured more like musical theatre performances. To end up the album, HMLTD chose to give closer "Lay Me Down" a more hopeful song structure.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic= 86/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
DIY[6]
The Guardian[7]
The Line of Best Fit9/10[8]
Loud and Quiet8/10[9]
Louder Than War[10]
The Skinny[11]
The Telegraph[12]

The Worm was well received by music critics upon release. On review aggregator website Metacritic, the album has an average critic score of 86 out of 100, based on five critics.[5]

Writing for The Telegraph, British music critic Andrew Perry welcomed the experimentation deployed on the album. He wrote: "As a 40-minute listening experience, it's equal parts eccentric and impassioned, thought-provoking and out-there – if not exactly fun, given the mental-health issues, then certainly liberating, nourishing and thoroughly memorable."[12] In a similar positive review for The Line of Best Fit, Caitlin Chatterton complimented that despite its short runtime, The Worm "expertly treads the line between fantasy and realism, between pretension and honesty, and wraps it all up before you've had time to raise an eyebrow."[8]

Ammar Kalia writing for The Guardian praised the album's unifying theme. which "can lead tracks such as the riff-heavy Wyrmlands into musical theatre territory as Spychalski crams lyrics amid instrumental virtuosity." For Kalia, it shows HMLTD "as a band capable of committing to grand visions with brilliant intensity."[7]

Track listing

All tracks are written by HMLTD

The Worm track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Worm's Dream"1:14
2."Wyrmlands"3:51
3."The End Is Now"3:58
4."Days"4:30
5."Saddest Worm Ever"5:30
6."Liverpool Street"4:55
7."The Worm"5:18
8."Past Life (Sinnerman's Song)"7:17
9."Lay Me Down"4:55
Total length:41:28

Personnel

References

  1. ↑ Murray, Robin (31 January 2023). "HMLTD Announce Dystopian New Album The Worm". Clash. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  2. ↑ Watson, Elly (7 March 2023). "HMLTD unveil new single 'The End Is Now'". DIY. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  3. ↑ Bound, Chris (4 April 2023). "HMLTD deliver new single 'The Worm'". Mystic Sons. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  4. ↑ Clarke, Patrick (4 April 2023). "Songs At The End Of The World: An Interview With HMLTD". The Quietus. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  5. 1 2 "The Worm by HMLTD Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  6. ↑ Thirwell, Elvis (7 April 2023). "HMLTD – The Worm: Astonishingly committed to its outlandish – basically ridiculous – ideals". DIY. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  7. 1 2 Kalia, Ammar (9 April 2023). "HMLTD: The Worm review – a grand, apocalyptic free-for-all". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  8. 1 2 Chatterton, Caitlin. "HMLTD bring their ambitious vision to life on The Worm". The Line of Best Fit]. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  9. ↑ Davidson, Robert. "HMLTD - The Worm". Loud and Quiet. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  10. ↑ Sloan, Susan (10 April 2023). "HMLTD: The Worm – album review". Louder Than War. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  11. ↑ Faulds, Jack (3 April 2023). "HMLTD – The Worm". The Skinny. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  12. 1 2 Perry, Andrew (7 April 2023). "Ellie Goulding brings us dance-floor delight, HMLTD is as eccentric as ever – the week's best albums". The Telegraph. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  13. ↑ Noted as Saigon Fury
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