HMLTD have posted the video for the title-track of their new album “The Worm”, directed by frontman Henry Spychalski.
“The video for The Worm shows the final stand of the resistance,” Spychalski said. “We shot the video in an abandoned, desecrated church in London’s East End to emphasise the spiritual nature of the song and its themes of struggle and salvation.”
It was inspired by the films of the polish auteur Andrzej Żuławski, and in particular his unfinished masterpiece ‘On The Silver Globe’. The chorus of extras which make up the congregation are all fans of ours who answered a general callout on Instagram, without whom the video would not have been possible – so our eternal gratitude to them here cannot be overstated.
Hark! A tale of yore that befalleth our fair England and the brave Grunter rebels who didst fight to save it! A most foul Worm didst wake and ascend from the bowels of our Earth once disturbed, threatening to swallow the land whole. But lo! The Grunters didst rise to the challenge, and with courage and wit, they didst attempt to carry their great duty to fulfil their destiny! Herein lieth the tale of the Grunter rebels and the laidly Worm, a tale that shall be remembered for evermore!
“In the video, I wanted to show man’s inner demons physically manifested as real, living, breathing entities – the Worm within man.”
Art punks HMLTD return this week and it has to be said, it is a ludicrously impressive outing with “The Worm”. It was created over the last two years with a cast of fifty musicians to include a 16-piece string orchestra and a gospel choir. The audacity of this album really is something to behold as it moves through themes, styles and textures. We’ve been enjoying diving into this one.
A cast of 47 musicians including a gospel choir and 16-piece orchestra came together to work on this wildly ambitious second album from HMLTD. It took over two years to put together and is not so much a concept album as a fully realised musical universe that crosses all genre and medium boundaries. It is set in a version of Medieval England steeped in sci-fi fantasy and is part a political polemic and part a moving and psychological journey. Frontman HenrySpychalski draws on his own struggles to tell a modern tale about the impotence of people feel stuck inside system of power.
