ALBUM SPOTLIGHT: ‘Forever Howlong’ - Black Country, New Road
Black Country, New Road have continued to be one of the most interesting and unique bands releasing music in the 2020s, with their new album ‘Forever Howlong’ continuing their strong form. This is the band’s third studio album, and fourth overall, succeeding ‘For The First Time’, ‘Ants From Up There’ and ‘Live at Bush Hall’. With their previous releases setting a high bar, expectations were high, yet the delivery was spectacular, with the band now boasting four excellent albums.
Since the departure of former frontman Isaac Wood shortly before the release of their second LP, the band began to perform and release songs featuring other members as lead vocalists. On this album, pianist May Kershaw, bassist Tyler Hyde, and violinist/mandolinist Georgia Ellery contribute lead vocals on various tracks, with each having different deliveries and styles. They’re joined by saxophonist Lewis Evans, drummer Charlie Wayne, and guitarist Luke Mark, who all have some incredible contributions themself. The lead single and opening track ‘Besties’ is led by Georgia, which was also her first studio release written for the band. It does an excellent job of introducing us to the album, with its lush instrumentation and warm feel, yet bittersweet lyrics. This theme of uplifting progressions juxtaposed by sombre writing is something the band has excelled at in their time post-Isaac and ‘Besties’ exemplifies this
The next two tracks ‘The Big Spin’ and ‘Socks’ introduce the other two vocalists, as May leads the former and Tyler the latter. The former follows some more of the same themes as ‘Besties’, by juxtaposing happy and upbeat sounds with bittersweet and personal writing. May’s performance here is quite beautiful and Tyler follows suit right afterwards, with ‘Socks’ showing off one of my favourite styles of Black Country, New Road songs; grand and magnificent. Every instrument feels equally important, every word hits harder than the last, and it all builds to a beautiful climax.
The next track, ‘Salem Sisters’ introduces another standout aspect of the album - its baroque and classical flourishes. This song was originally known as ‘24/7 365 British Summer Time’ and led by Lewis, before it was decided that Tyler would lead a reworked version with the new name. ‘Two Horses’ and ‘Happy Birthday’ are some of the grooviest tracks off the project, with the former having a frenetic pace and incredibly fun guitar work and the latter slowing it down, but cranking the sax up to 11. ‘Happy Birthday’ stands out for its exceptional backing vocals - possibly among the best in the band’s discography. ‘Mary’, ‘Forever Howlong’, and ‘Goodbye (Don’t Tell Me)’ carry the bittersweet themes and styles going, yet sometimes fall a little by the wayside compared to the other tracks this album has to offer.
However, it’s the one-two punch of ‘For the Cold Country’ and ‘Nancy Tries to Take the Night’ just before the end of the album that provides the emotional climax. ‘For the Cold Country’ builds steadily to begin its ascent and eventually climbs to a passionate and chaotic ending. The drums here are especially phenomenal throughout, keeping the flow of the track on pace to reach its frenetic finale at the perfect moment as May delivers a stunning vocal performance. ‘Nancy Tries to Take the Night’ is led by Tyler and is a strong contender for the band’s best song since entering their new chapter. Personally speaking, the song hadn’t stopped playing in my head since I had the privilege to listen to it live last year, with the studio version delivering on every front. The lush arrangements showcase some of the band’s most elegant progressions yet and the back half once the tempo picks up is nothing short of incredible. Every single member of the band gave it their all on this track and Tyler delivers her absolute best vocal performance ever. The outro is just as gorgeous and leads perfectly into the conclusion of another excellent release for Black Country, New Road.
With the band continuing to grow in new directions with each release, the next question is where the band will go after this?
Listen to the album below.