“Black Country, New Road” was one of the most popular indie bands due to their melancholic, sad music, headed by lead vocalist Isaac Wood. After it was announced that Wood was not going to perform with the band anymore, it left many wondering what direction the band would take and how they would evolve through this change.
The answer to this question is answered by the first track of their newest album, “Forever Howlong.” The song “Besties” is a big and bold swing that immediately shows the direction that the band is going in. Upbeat and faster, it feels like the best answer for skeptics of a band that lost their lead vocalist. The band still uses all the instruments and style that they are known for, but the pace is the biggest difference, being a lot faster than most of their other work.
While the album starts out with this fast pace, it doesn’t take long for it to slow down and tell the stories through their longer songs. There are quite a few moments throughout the album where the pace between songs will fluctuate and it works very well. The best of this is at the end of the album with “Nancy Tries to Take the Night.” The story told in the last five songs of the album is both beautiful and moving. The great lyrics have left me listening to the entire album daily since its release.
One of the biggest questions regarding the band was who would be the vocalist after losing Wood and his unique style of singing. This led to three main vocalists being used on this album: May Kershaw, Georgia Ellery and Tyler Hyde. The way that they sing is definitely different from Wood, but it fits the band better than I could have imagined. The three of them all have great voices and they fit the style of the band very well.
I think that there is only one track on this album that I do not love like the others but it is just one track out of eleven. “Forever Howlong” ends so well as well that it is incredibly easy to overlook one song I did not personally like in the middle of the album. The five-track run, with the highlights being “Nancy Tries to Take the Night” and “Goodbye (Don’t Tell Me),” is where the entire album came together for me.
This reinvention is one of the best I think that I have ever heard from a band. Stylistically, it is quite different from older “Black Country, New Road” albums, but it still stands very well on its own. The songwriting is just as strong as before and the instruments are as incredible as ever. With all three vocalists holding their own and having a standout track, it makes the album flow incredibly well. This is not only a successful reinvention but also a statement. “Black Country, New Road” may have lost their lead star vocalist, but they are not going anywhere and the quality of their music is certainly not changing.
10/10
