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Apr 03, 2025 Web Exclusive By Marc Abbott

The third studio album from this genre-defying British six-piece is not just evidence of Black Country, New Road’s incredible evolutionary arc, near-telepathic musicianship and collective creativity, but is also one of the most thrilling, diverse, and singularly spellbinding records to have come out of the UK in the past decade.

For a band which only released its first, very much guitar-led, male-fronted album—For the First Time—four years ago, and Ants From Up There the following year, to have reinvented itself to a point where it is fronted by three female vocalists, features a veritable orchestra of instruments, yet retains its sense of cohesion and continuity, is a triumph. Beneath the three distinct songwriting and vocal styles of violinist Georgia Ellery, bassist Tyler Hyde, and pianist May Kershaw, there is a breathtaking breadth of instrumentation. Alongside the woodwind-wielding wonder of Lewis Evans, the electric, acoustic, and lap steel guitar of Luke Mark, and the metronomic glue of Charlie Wayne’s tight percussion, we find harpsichord, accordion, mandolin, banjo, harmonium, even recorder, all thrown into the mix. It could sound like a British school assembly playing at the court of Henry VIII. Thankfully, it does not!

Compositionally, this record takes Black Country, New Road’s songs to a new level of complexity, without ever feeling indulgent. Vocally, those three voices veer between Kershaw’s clean, bright, über-English tone (redolent of British folk mainstays, The Unthanks), Hyde’s rich, affecting range, and Ellery’s almost tear-jerking veracity. Musically, it is almost undefinable. An accompanying press release lists Fiona Apple, Joanna Newsom, Randy Newman, and Janis Ian as influences. Forever Howlong melds alt-rock, jazz, 1970s M.O.R, prog, folk, baroque, and chamber pop into a demonstrably slower-paced record than the band’s previous releases, damn near creating a genre all its own. Some of the tunes could form an alternative soundtrack to Sofia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides; some of them wouldn’t sound out of place at a medieval reenactment festival. It’s bafflingly brilliant that the 11 tracks here coalesce into a very nearly perfect album.

The complexity of the arrangements is a counterpoint to the simple truths and stories told. Lyrically, this record speaks varyingly of the bond of friendship (“Besties,” “Happy Birthday”), and magic in the mundanity of modern life (“Forever Howlong” particularly; how many other songs this melodious contain the lyrics “The man reaches down to pick up the shit / I make eye contact with the dog / We both look away”). The labours of youth are addressed in “Mary,” a song on which all three vocalists combine in a 21st Century evocation of The Beatles’ “She’s Leaving Home.” And stand out tracks “Two Horses” and “Goodbye (Don’t Tell Me)”—both written and sung by Ellery—are exceptional tales of modern relationships. That the darker side of some of those themes is often cloaked in music that feints, about-faces, explodes rhapsodically, and sticks in your head for days, is not to be understated.

Fans of Black Country, New Road’s 2023 live album Live at Bush Hall, which showcased the first songs written since the amicable departure of former frontman Isaac Wood, will recognize the band they hear on this record. Indeed, much of it has already been played live, at festival performances and when Black Country, New Road opened for Nick Cave in the UK and Europe last year. If there’s any justice in the world, however, Forever Howlong will not only garner a fresh following for what is perhaps the UK’s most progressive collective of musicians and songwriters, but also cement Black Country, New Road as one of the most vital, innovative, and bewitching acts the world has to offer right now. (www.blackcountrynewroad.com)

Author rating: 9/10