Black Country, New Road defy expectations on Forever Howlong
Photo credit: Eddie Whelan
Three years after their last studio album, Ants From Up There (2022), English rock group Black Country, New Road are back and they’re better than ever with their upcoming release Forever Howlong. The opening riffs of the harpsichord on “Besties” begin the blissful trip into the new sound of the group. Produced by James Ford, the new record is exciting, experimental and even playful at times— all while being unapologetically a reflection of how far the group has come, and is some of their strongest work yet.
After the departure of the group’s lead vocalist, Issac Wood — four days before the release of Ants From Up There — it was uncertain what the future of the band would look like. Black Country, New Road defied all anxiety around their future and honoured the tour dates performing then unreleased music that would end up becoming Live From Bush Hall— a collection of tracks that was nothing short of a triumph and evidence that they’re not going anywhere.
REVERIE was able to chat with drummer Charlie Wayne and violinist Georgia Ellery (who both also lend their vocals to the BC,NR chorus), ahead of the release of Forever Howlong.
When Issac Wood left, how did the band find a new vocalist?
Charlie Wayne: It happened fairly naturally. There were conversations that were floating around dispersing the role of ‘singer,’ like, “Who would be doing lead vocals or backing vocals?” I mean, Isaac, he was obviously very good at it but kind of only really came to being the lead singer of the band by sort of circumstance. So, it kind of was a continuation of figuring it out in practice rather than in discussion.
About the new record, it’s exciting, it's grand. What’s different for the group in Forever Howlong?
Georgia Ellery: It’s exciting, it feels very fresh to me, and it's exciting to be able to tour it in a conventional way, you know, like have it released and then play the shows, because we haven't really done that before. It's always just no shows or playing something brand new to audiences. So yeah, excited for the live shows because people will have had a chance to sit with it in the conventional way.
Wayne: The band is bigger and touch-wood that we're actually going to go and tour the music, rather than the album's going to come out and it's either like during COVID, or we're going to have to cancel the shows. That's the main thing, I think, kind of what Georgia has been talking about, knowing that we were playing shows. People may have already heard the songs before and kind of anticipate that, rather than playing catch up.
Ellery: Because we haven't been in that situation before, really.
How do your personalities as a group of six influence your music and your performances and the band as a whole?
Wayne: It's sort of super integral really. I think a lot of the musical identity of the band isn't necessarily tied to specific genres, it’s more about the individual musicians and the ways in which we communicate with each other, which I think is cool. I think it's a really nice consistency to have. I think that we have spent a lot of time playing together, and that is great. And we see each other outside of the band. Knowing that the whole thing isn't necessarily predicated on playing music together, is a really cool and nice thing. I think, internally, we all have our own musical backgrounds and our own sort of musical preferences and tastes, and that is great. It's a very sort of conversational writing style. It's quite difficult to properly describe, it's a very active, very nice, quite democratic, style of writing, where everyone is important, everyone feels heard, and everyone's got a bit of ownership over the music.
Since the band is going back on tour, what songs are you most excited to perform live? Are there any old songs you’re excited to bring back?
Ellery: Excited to play the new ones live, because they’re just really fun to play and they feel really fresh at the moment. Not that there were any stinkers before, but sometimes there are songs that you don't look forward to playing for various reasons. I think it’s going to be great. We're going to think about what we bring back. So yet to be, TBC on that.
What’s your favourite track from the new record?
Ellery: “Happy Birthday.”
Wayne: It's quite nice to sort of have one for each of the singers, in a way. I really love “Happy Birthday,” I really love “Two Horses,” I really love “Forever Howlong.” And they're all completely different songs. That's kind of what makes the album sort of epic.
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At its core, Forever Howlong is the band re-inventing their sound and defying all expectations of what Black Country, New Road is— the singles up to this point have proven that again and again. The group has grown and has shown that they’re not going anywhere, anytime soon. Forever Howlong is soon to become another classic in their catalogue, and perhaps, it’s their best yet.
Read the full interview in the fourth print issue of the Reverie, coming out this June.