At the beginning of the decade, Black Country, New Road (BC,NR) created the masterwork Ants From Up There; however, right before the album was released, the band’s frontman Isaac Wood took a step back to deal with his mental health. The album was an unabashed success with strange, off-kilter songwriting filled with esoteric references to Wood’s dreams, Morrissey or even the video game franchise Warhammer 40k. The strangeness of the songs did not stop there, with post-rock influenced guitar-centered arrangements thrown around with powerful drumming, creating a post-punk bleh. All of these, in addition to Wood’s crooning voice that teetered between talking, singing and whining simultaneously, culminated in one of the most extraordinary experimental projects of the twenty-first century.
Something had to change, though. Without their talisman, BC,NR could have struggled to create new music, but that simply is not the case for the English sextet who trade out heavy guitar usage for mandolin solos and Wood’s voice for those of bassist Tyler Hyde, keyboardist May Kershaw and violinist Georgia Ellery who all have incredibly distinctive styles of both songwriting and singing. The band took on a baroque feel with a new folky spirit that communicates a togetherness as expressed on their live album Live at Bush Hall, which, in and of itself, was a rush job to support the live tour for Ants. It resulted in something that sounded far more interesting than that would suggest, almost sounding akin to a jam band that went back to 1595 and hung out exclusively with William Shakespeare.
The album in question, Forever Howlong (2025), starts unequivocally art-pop-y with Ellery’s “Besties,” which sets the tone perfectly for the album about to come. What starts as an ode to female friendship shifts into a tale of unrequited longing that the narrator eventually gives up on, giving a bitter ending to an overtly upbeat song. This sonic dissonance is the through line on the whole project, especially on Hyde’s “Salem Sisters,” which equates the feeling of being alone at a summer barbecue to being burnt at the stake like those Salem Sisters.
Immediately following Salem Sisters, Two Horses finds itself telling the story of a woman searching for shelter being betrayed by the man she puts her trust in. Interestingly, this song has much more of a jazz-influenced sound with notable similarities to Geordie Greep, which gives the song a sort of sinister feel to it, foreshadowing the malicious intent of the man. This intent is even sensed by the narrator, who notes that this person is untrustworthy, but they still give in to his charms. The impact of this song, being cognizant of your susceptibility to the wiles of a charmer, has serious implications today.
The standout song on the album is, without a doubt, For the Cold Country, a six and a half minute long epic of a song based in which a Knight wrestles with their past, not knowing whether to accept their past as a warrior or to judge themselves for the crimes they have committed. In addition to this tale, the song itself feels as though its going to burst with a cacophony right as the Knight’s inner turmoil reaches its tipping point, resulting in an effect that gives the listener a look into their mind—wild, erratic and all over the place—but it still ends in silence showing the Knight’s anguish and defeat at their own hands.
Apart from the sound of the project, the ending of the album also differs from previous BC,NR works. Those ended on the highest peak of the album with Opus and Basketball Shoes respectively, and while Goodbye (Don’t Tell Me) certainly has its merits as an ending track, it lacks the theatrical qualities of both the rest of the album and previous endings. This dropoff in quality makes the listener less sure of the album as a whole, especially when a fantastic ending note already exists in Nancy Tries to Take the Night, which has the hallmarks of a classic finale.
Ultimately, Forever Howlong signals a bold new direction for Black Country, New Road, one rooted in collaboration and experimentation rather than the singular voice that once defined them. While the album lacks the climactic resolution that made Ants From Up There so striking, it compensates with rich, textured storytelling and inventive instrumentation. The absence of a powerful final track like Opus or Basketball Shoes may leave some listeners wanting, but this shift reflects the band’s broader transformation—away from traditional structures and toward something more diffuse, democratic, and unpredictable. Though not perfect, Forever Howlong succeeds in showcasing a band unafraid to evolve, and its imperfections are, in many ways, part of its charm.
