Black Country, New Road

Forever Howlong Black Country, New Road

‘Forever Howlong’ is Black Country, New Road's first new studio album since their acclaimed, critically acclaimed and Mercury Prize-nominated album “Ants From Up There” from 2022. It is also their first proper studio album after frontman Isaac Wood left the project. However, we've already had a taste of how the band has chosen to reinvent themselves on the live album ‘Live At Bush Hall’.

On ‘Forever Howlong’, the band refines itself in a new constellation in yet another miraculous musical transformation. With the help of producer James Ford (Fontaines D.C., Arctic Monkeys, Depeche Mode, Blur), the band settles into a new mould, with Tyler Hyde, Georgia Ellery and May Kershaw sharing the vocal duties between them. An ambitious, meticulously detailed album that encompasses everything from folk to prog, baroque pop and alt-rock. The album nods to influences like Joanna Newsom, Randy Newman, Fiona Apple and Janis Ian, but without shying away from the band's distinctive, unique sound, which is only possible because of the tight-knit group of amazing musicians. Although the album is highly varied and expansive, it feels extremely cohesive and focussed, bringing together three distinct voices and different styles into a new, collective sound.

The band's ability to adapt is due not only to their close friendship, but also to their talent, their adaptability and their relationship with each other as musicians. The group is a mix of classically trained and self-taught multi-instrumentalists who have been playing together as a band since the late 2010s - often playing together at The Windmill in Brixton alongside friends and acclaimed peers like Squid and Black Midi.