Black Country, New Road – ‘Forever Howlong’ album review: Mark II kicks off with a bang

Posted On April 3, 2025April 3, 2025

THE SKINNY: When fans of Black Country, New Road were informed of frontman Isaac Wood’s decision to depart the band mere days before the release of their second studio album, Ants From Up There, in 2022, many expected that to be curtains for one of the most hyped bands to have emerged from the UK’s fertile crop of inventive and forward-thinking young acts.

Seeing as the strained anguish in his vocals and anxious lyricism were two of the major selling points for fans of the band’s early work, it felt as though it would be impossible to replace such an integral part of the septet, but the band would soon announce that they would continue with the remaining six members. They dropped all of the material that Wood had previously written from the band out of respect and essentially started again with a clean slate.

Their early shows with the new incarnation saw bassist Tyler Hyde, pianist May Kershaw, and saxophonist Lewis Evans share vocal and songwriting duties, and the earliest material that they scraped together in order to fulfil live commitments saw a softening of their sound, largely shedding the angular jazz-punk and post-rock tendencies they had leaned on so heavily. The addition of two feminine voices also meant that the male gaze that the songs had been delivered from in the past was going to take a bit of a backseat.

While the band collated the eight songs they wrote during this period on the Live at Bush Hall album and film release, it was only ever meant to be an indication that they were intent on sticking together as a unit and that the remaining members could step up to the plate effectively. For the hotly-anticipated third album, and debut with the new incarnation, they wished to take time to let the songs happen organically, and the resulting offering, Forever Howlong, is all the better for it.

Evans has stepped back from the microphone to allow their third female member, violinist Georgia Ellery, to handle a portion of the singing and songwriting, but Hyde has stepped forward as the most prolific of the trio, contributing five songs across the record. However, with the duties being split, the variety on show across the album is more apparent than ever, and it feels like a greater balance of all members’ influences is being applied rather than having them all chucked into the pot at once.

Ellery, who is also known for being one half of the electronic duo Jockstrap, tends to handle the more pop-adjacent offerings, Hyde is most adept when it comes to delivering the folkier material, and Kershaw writes the most sprawling tracks that feel just as informed by classical music as they do progressive rock. Across the album, there are seemingly nods to other virtuosic artists that shift between styles without the bat of an eyelid, with Fiona Apple, Sufjan Stevens and Joanna Newsom all being important touchstones for the new multitude of directions.

The youthful anxieties from For the First Time and Ants are almost entirely absent, and with a trio of songwriters taking charge, the band seem to have more power, confidence and potential to deliver for longer when working as a more democratic unit than they possibly did with Wood at the helm.

Not everything is perfect here, but for a band that could’ve easily imploded under pressure and bowed to the demand of fans that wanted a repeat of former glories while becoming bored of how they sounded, they’ve managed to continue in a fashion that shows not just defiance, but a real passion for creating genuinely adventurous music that always looks to explore new avenues.

For fans of: Dropping the ‘post-’ from the genre label you’ve been lumped with and knowing when to move on.

A concluding comment, presumably, from my girlfriend once she hears the album for the first time: “It’s great, but please just let May write all the songs.”

Forever Howlong track by track:

Release Date: April 4th | Producer: James Ford | Label: Ninja Tune

‘Besties’: The listener is immediately hit with a frantic harpsichord line that explodes into a beautifully arranged track about feeling an unrequited love towards a close friend. While the lyrics are occasionally overly sentimental, the main thing that holds it back is the skittish structure that doesn’t allow long enough for ideas to develop in the way they deserve. [3.5/5]

‘The Big Spin’: The first offering from Kershaw is a glorious dive into baroque pop that has some of the most ingenious melodic changes that the band have produced to date. Brevity is something that BC,NR have struggled with in the past, allowing songs to run on well beyond a five-minute runtime, but everything is achieved here in a sweet two-and-a-half-minute blast. [4.5/5]

‘Socks’: Until the band establish themselves further under their new lineup, there will always be discussion of how things aren’t quite the same as how they used to be with Wood handling songwriting duties. While ‘Socks’ is all Hyde’s work, some of the motifs are reminiscent of those heard on Ants From Up There – a rare callback on a record that largely sees the band looking forward. [4/5]

‘Salem Sisters’: The only song to feature lyrical contributions from multiple members of the band, with Hyde and Wayne co-writing the song with Rachid Fakhre (aka Skydaddy), ‘Salem Sisters’ is perhaps the poppiest the band have ever sounded. While it’s far from a simplification of the sense of grandeur that many of their other songs possess, you can tell that writing in this fashion is another style that they’re entirely comfortable producing. [4.5/5]

‘Two Horses’: While Ellery’s vocals are often accompanied by maximalist production in her other group, Jockstrap, it feels refreshing to hear her soaring over the top of more deft arrangements, with mandolins and banjos gently guiding her through the first part of the song, before it transforms into a more energetic second half. [4/5]

‘Mary’: A beautiful acoustic ballad from Hyde that tells the story of a socially outcast character and her misfortunes, this is another song that eschews the normally lavish arrangements that the band have become known for. On this occasion, the use of vocal harmonies that gradually seep in over the course of the song proves that the band know how to tone things down and let it work to their advantage in the best way possible. [5/5]

‘Happy Birthday’: The heavier edge of Hyde’s songwriting comes to the fore on the second single from the album, one that displays all of the bombastic flurries of emotion that the band express so well. It feels as though the lyrics are speaking directly to the protagonist of the previous song, almost as a message of comfort to the inconsolable character that Hyde previously introduced. [4.5/5]

‘For the Cold Country’: It would feel wrong for any incarnation of the band to avoid having at least one epic song on a record, and the multi-part ‘For the Cold Country’ sees Kershaw flexing her abilities once again. Her lyrics are the most poetic of the trio that have assumed songwriting duties, and her sprawling song structures are indicative of a genius at work. From knotty folk balladry to prog freakouts, this song has it all. [5/5]

‘Nancy Tries to Take the Night’: ‘Nancy’ is Hyde at her most lyrically ambitious, and it’s a song that really hits home the difference that it makes having BC,NR’s work being sung from a female perspective. Aside from the Steve Reich pianos and Tony Allen-esque drumming in the second half of the song, its main issue is that the momentum lags after such a momentous climax from the previous song. [3.5/5]

‘Forever Howlong’: The chorus of recorders and accordion make for the most peaceful-sounding song on the record, but once again, Kershaw shows flashes of genius in her storytelling ability that feels dryly funny in its stream-of-consciousness observations. Never did I think I’d hear the phrase “the pH of my gut microbiome” in a song and not wince. [4.5/5]

‘Goodbye (Don’t Tell Me)’: Past BC,NR albums have always reached their high point at the tail end of the abum, but the closer is another unfortunate lull on Forever Howlong. It’s not a problem though, as the rest of the record has demonstrated that there’s little to worry about in the future of the band after what could have been a turbulent readjustment period. [3/5]

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