“Do you wanna play ‘Forever Howlong’?” Georgia Ellery asks on ‘Besties’. When we first heard these lyrics in January, it was just a cheeky nod to the title of Black Country, New Road’s long-awaited third studio album. Without that knowledge, it initially reads more like a childhood game, but in the wake of ‘Besties’ and its mixed reception, it began to sound more like a challenge. Do you dare to listen to – or, god forbid, like – the version of BC, NR without Isaac Wood?
We’ll level with you: this is no ‘Ants From Up There’ or ‘For The First Time’, and that’s a good thing. Yes, compared to Wood, the narrators are more reliable, the neuroses less acute. But instead of one man committing his most desperate confessions to tape, it’s three women (Ellery, bassist Tyler Hyde and keyboardist May Kershaw). They achieve a resonance Wood simply couldn’t do alone – like on the galling ‘Mary’, where all three join forces in an act of shared support and suffering.
Kershaw’s gossamer voice and folkloric writing style brings a more mythical edge to BC, NR’s melodrama. She parallels the rise and fall of a fictional knight with a kite-flying session on ‘For The Cold Country’, one whose “strings burn my palms”, left “shredded” in the trees. Kite-flying has never sounded more like the Battle of the Somme – especially when the band jointly stomp out the rhythm like detonating bombs.
Meanwhile, Ellery is particularly adept at capturing – and expanding – the yearning that BC, NR are so good at articulating. She pairs a superbly windswept melody with her pained delivery on ‘Goodbye (Don’t Tell Me)’ (“I’ve fallen in love with a fear I believe in”) and nails a friendship too meaningful for its own good on ‘Besties’: “Remember when I said he shouldn’t treat you that way, and are you sure? / I know I want something more”.
There’s a fresh warmth to ‘Forever, Howlong’, but don’t mistake that for sonic pathetic fallacy. The pregnant protagonist of ‘Nancy Tries To Take The Night’ has one of the most devastating narrative arcs on the record; the combination of banjo and nylon guitar makes for such an unusually rich tone for the band, bolstered by Hyde’s sonorous alto that grounds the song.
There are moments where the ball drops. The TikTok namecheck on ‘Besties’ remains slightly cringe-inducing, and cuts like ‘Socks’ and ‘Happy Birthday’ simply don’t hold the same compelling power as many of the other tracks on the record. But ultimately, we want bands to feel empowered to change and surprise listeners. ‘Forever Howlong’, then, isn’t really a question or a game at all: it’s a promise from a band who have now thrice proven they’re not afraid to take the plunge.
Details
- Record label: Ninja Tune
- Release date: April 4, 2025
English (US) · 