Forever Howlong

Black Country, New Road

Released on 4/4/25 by Ninja Tune
Main artists: Black Country, New Road
Genre: Alternative & Indie
Distinctions: Qobuz Album of the Week

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Known for experimentation, the band Black Country, New Road is, it turns out, mostly a creature of constant evolution. The first album, 2021's For the First Time, was daring post-rock, jazzily teetering on a precipice that placed the band alongside such contemporaries as Black Midi and earned comparisons to genre godfathers Slint. Less than a week before the release of Ants From Up There—which already found the BC,NR edging toward a more theatrical vibe—in 2022, lead vocalist Isaac Wood announced his departure related to mental health issues. Now, with Forever Howlong, the three female members have taken over vocal duties and all the classically trained musicians are figuring out new roles. Of pianist May Kershaw's growing songwriting role (she also started out primarily playing synth in the band), drummer Charlie Wayne has said, "Now, everything, in a way, revolves around the piano." While that means there is a clearer spiritual tie to, say, Randy Newman (see: calamitous "The Big Spin") and even satirical Victorian operettas, it's also created a rhythmic fluidity that's required Wayne to adapt. It's there in the way his drums come crashing in like a tsunami, momentarily overtaking the twee swinging chanty of "Socks" before the landscape resettles—cleared for a wonderfully jaunty piano and sax duet. Starting with the gauzy tremble of pastoral freak folk, "Two Horses" ascends to a leaning tower of pulsing bass and twitchy percussion. And the drums disappear for the title track (instead, Wayne learned to play the recorder), a Björk-ish watercolor study that makes the most of that extra space by adding in significant pauses for an air of intrigue. Bassist Tyler Hyde takes the mic on "Happy Birthday," which has a heavy baroque flair and muscle-flex guitar runs from Luke Mark, singing about how none of us are owed anything in this world and the best you can hope for is a little compassion and solidarity … which comes in the form of the next song, "For the Cold Country." Laying out a mesmerizing vocal melody like bread crumbs, Kershaw promises, "I'll take off my armour/ If you promise to stay/ Wipe your weeping eye," as the mood grows from tender to passionate. Violinist Georgia Ellery pokes at contemporary culture on "Besties," warning, "I'm a walking TikTok trend/ But the color runs out in the end" even as fluttering, angelic harmonies help paint a pretty scene. And the women join forces on "Salem Sisters" and "Mary"—a delightfully melodramatic folky number that's a little off in both its instrumentation and harmonies. That slightly unhinged air lends itself well to lines like "She'll play the jester … she bites back/ But she falls flat" and "What a way to treat your friend." © Shelly Ridenour/Qobuz

Forever Howlong

Black Country, New Road

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