GutterPutter

Isaac Wood’s departure and subsequent indefinite hiatus from Black Country, New Road has left a big hole. It’s hard to imagine that one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the decade in Ants From Up There saw itself be mythologised by the ex-frontman who doesn’t like the stress of being up on stage, let alone even being the face of the band. Its pristine buildups for their longer songs’ structures, iconic blending of electric instruments with a more baroque backing, and bricolage-like use of musical influences make for an etched giant in independent music. And to think as well that it’s the second record from a group consisting of those who are only in their twenties!

And the reality is that after Wood’s decision to leave, it’s not like BC,NR went down the stinkers with the quality of their music. They have decided to commit themselves to a more collaborative form of songwriting with almost any one of the members doing the vocals should they wish to. Their live album Live at Bush Hall, released in October 2023, was well-received for its astonishing endurance to carry on much of what makes the band beloved in the first place. Standouts like ‘Turnbines/Pigs’ or ‘Dancers’ have instantly reached cult status reactions for further growth on the evolution set by their previous album. By further blending post-rock structures with the zany elegance of progressive pop, BC,NR continues to make their music come off as refreshing as it can be.

This fails to address the elephant in the room, I feel, and that is their identity. Wood has a distinctive kind of songwriting where, aside from frequent use of crescendos, he employs pop culture references in a way that is almost like recalling a legend. Or, more broadly speaking, he sings about modern day life that we take for granted as if they are a palimpsest from centuries ago. Take for example the “lightsaber” in ‘Concorde’, the non-sequitur fanaticism in shouting out to Kanye West in ‘Sunglasses’, or how the premise of ‘The Place Where He Inserted the Blade’ shares a similar level of burlesque epicness to Alexander Pope’s The Rape of the Lock. 

You can’t always win over everyone and it’s very likely that some would deride the references as cringy or prone to being outdated. However, it is one that is what drags a lot of fans from loving the band to worship them. And it is this peculiarity that sticks out like a smallpox scar on Forever Howlong.  BC,NR’s newest album is a brilliant effort to put it firstly. It is there when the band finalises their transition towards embracing progressive pop as their genre of specialty instead of remaining in their tried and true lane of post-rock. If anything, they are a lot more reminiscent of the Canterbury Scene from back in the 1970s.

‘For the Cold Country’ is an example of the divergence being at its very best with its holistic choral harmonies, a medieval use of its harpsichord and accordion that is as mystic as it is conservative, and a fairy-like vocal performance from band’s pianist May Kershaw. It has a transcendent quality to it that is oft-too hard to ignore. It demands your attention and its breakdown near the end is prescient in showing the theme of self-discovery. Savour it and you may well appreciate the other intricacies that are available. Bassist and guitarist Tyler Hyde’s ‘Happy Birthday’ is similar in its quaint acceptance of life’s difficulties to Belle & Sebastian that’s backed by the triumphant guitar and Lewis Evans’s iconic saxophone playing. Or, for a taste of romantic fantasies, ‘Two Horses’ saw Georgia Ellery, also of Jockstrap, sing about her crippling loneliness that’s like a postmodern interpretation of a Disney Princess. And I mean that as a compliment.

Further building on the album’s brilliance is the potency of its blatantly baroque influences. ‘Mary’ saw Hyde sing alongside drummer Charlie Wayne and not-a-member-but-a-guest Rachid Fahkre in a sustained way that matches the harmony of the best psychedelic acts in the 1960s. A bit ironic given that the song is about the normalising pain of being bullied. The way that the instrumentals follow along with Hyde’s vocal pitch in ‘Socks’ illudes you into feeling like you are listening to a musical. Such a fluid kind of melody has all the charm in the world that would swoon  anyone who feels lost as a young adult. ‘The Big Spin’ trumpets out loud like Arcade Fire live with all the extravaganza shoved into two and a half minutes.  

And then you have ‘Nancy Tries to Take the Night’ which is a heartbreaking depiction of abuse, pregnancy, and motherhood. Its repetitive harmonium sequences, dramatic violins, the militant snares, the crescendo that grows from each verse and refrain-like “Do you want it?” culminates in a tragic end that mimics the apex that is Sufjan Stevens’s Illinois. Seemingly subliminal in its consciousness given the prevalence of domestic abuse and sexual assault in the United Kingdom, there is a certain urgency to be found in the song. It soars up there as being among the best in the band’s discography and quite easily one of the best songs of the year; it is a frankly unforgettable experience.

However, that ignores the elephant in the room and that is the identity. It can come off as being biased in Wood’s favour and I am not going to downplay that at all. However, much as I like or love a lot of the tracks in Forever Howlong, it lacks the magic that penetrates their initial breakthrough into being indie darlings. Remember how I mentioned the pop culture references, the exaggerations that enable a lot of the band’s materials to come off as being unique compared to their contemporaries in the Windmill, the grand framing of the contemporary? This album lacks the same kind of excitement or rather the anxiety that comes with For the First Time. The materials there show that it might only be a matter of time before BC,NR fully recuperates and knock themselves out with a second magnum opus. As of now unfortunately, the absence of Wood’s distinctive lyrical techniques makes for an albatross that hangs around the small cracks of the album.

The intro in ‘Besties’ is a very good example to start showing the omission. It’s a very twee opener that’s built on unrequited feelings and the upbeat instrumentation makes the seeming dissonance in the theme innocuously cute. There is a glaring nitpick in one of the verses where, in the bid to imagine being in a relationship with her best friend, Ellery pictures herself as “a walking TikTok trend”. It’s in line with how Wood predominantly blends his generation’s interconnected relationship with the internet into his perpetual battle with his self-worth. Yet, the execution here feels somewhat forced. Throughout the song, Ellery doesn’t use “bestie” in the same ironic sense as it might have been used online or, to double down on the slang, substitute it for “oomfie”. The whole song is sincere in how it presents its feelings. There is no tightrope that sought to hide away the feeling of love, let alone falling into a relationship triangle that’s like Belle picking Edward or Jacob in Twilight. In other words, the song feels very BC,NR but it lands on a rough spot.

The issue thus puts much of the band into a zugzwang. They could either try and include in a pop culture reference as had been expected that’s not as impactful as Wood’s or omit it and risk the failure of not going far enough in striking the iron of their prog-pop mastery. ‘Salem Sisters’ is another example where, enchanting as its production makes the music, its ambiguous reference to “salad days” struggled to tie back to Mac DeMarco (speculatively speaking) in critiquing gossip and isolating others. The title track ironically does have a successful implementation of online culture commentary through the dangers of consulting to videos only for health matters. The heavy use of recorders failed to maximise the severity of the problem and instead makes it a relatively dull, albeit hypnotic, listen. ‘Goodbye (Don’t Tell Me)’ is the final track which pretty much rehashes the lovesickness of ‘Two Horses’ without the feeling of being a Disney Princess. It has a very hallucinogenic ending, but it doesn’t have the metatextuality that hammers home the prevalence of loneliness.

And that’s Forever Howlong. Contrary to doubts that the band will shrivel after Ants From Up There, BC,NR proves that they have a lot of bite left in them to surprise, enchant, and delight. It’s not hard to see that so many have already jumped on board to praise the album. These appraisals do however fail to address the nuance where Wood, much as he doesn’t want to be in the spotlight, has brought up the style that makes BC,NR almost iconic. Now it has come that much of the tracks, great as they are, feel a tad bit hollow in his absence. It’s like reading a Charles Dickens novel without recognition of the workers, watching a Ghibli film without an admiration to the natural, or listening to Hamilton without Lin-Manuel Miranda. Forever Howlong will win over new fans from almost all sides of the music demographic, but what a lament it might have been that they know not of the band’s past peculiarities.

4.5/5