Black Country, New Road
Forever Howlong
Release Date: Apr 4, 2025
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock
Record label: Ninja Tune
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Album Review: Forever Howlong by Black Country, New Road
Very Good, Based on 9 Critics
Based on rating 9/10
The band has always been fundamentally collaborative. Members would come up with ideas in pods and report back to the group, one where an entire seven-piece band could improvise and write an entire verse-chorus-verse song on stage and put it on their album almost verbatim. But on 2022's Ants From Up There, Black Country, New Road's previous album and instant chamber-rock classic, Wood defined the feeling of the band's entire sound: intense in both its silence and its massive crescendos, marked by Wood's anxious talk-singing through heart-rending abstract poetry.
Based on rating 9/10
The third studio album from this genre-defying British six-piece is not just evidence of Black Country, New Road's incredible evolutionary arc, near-telepathic musicianship and collective creativity, but is also one of the most thrilling, diverse, and singularly spellbinding records to have come out of the UK in the past decade. For a band which only released its first, very much guitar-led, male-fronted album--For the First Time--four years ago, and Ants From Up There the following year, to have reinvented itself to a point where it is fronted by three female vocalists, features a veritable orchestra of instruments, yet retains its sense of cohesion and continuity, is a triumph. Beneath the three distinct songwriting and vocal styles of violinist Georgia Ellery, bassist Tyler Hyde, and pianist May Kershaw, there is a breathtaking breadth of instrumentation.
Based on rating 4.5
Their first without singer Isaac Wood packs accessible sounds without sacrificing the band’s musical wizardry Black Country, New Road's third album marks the end of a breakthrough era for the experimental post-rockers. After lead vocalist Isaac Wood's departure, the band faced a creative crossroads; reinvention was inevitable, but how exactly would they pull it off? Enter Georgia Ellery, Tyler Hyde and May Kershaw, who step into the shared vocal spotlight with softer, yet equally emotionally charged deliveries. The female presence gives Forever Howlong an entirely new texture, yet the band's signature theatricality and intricate instrumentation remain intact.
Based on rating 8/10
When the queen of the night offers itself to human eyes for the first time, it carries a quiet mystique, thrilling yet hidden. But as time slips toward its elusive full bloom, expectations mount; doubt even lingers. Will it fulfill the promise of striking beauty? Like this flower, BCNR are proof that potential doesn't fade just because its shape changes.
Based on rating 4/5
Many would've written off the idea of Black Country, New Road sustaining their buzzy heights of popularity after frontman Isaac Wood left suddenly after their sophomore effort, Ants From Up There. But naysayers should think again. Catalysed by their restless knack for reinvention, BCNR's new album Forever Howlong proves that the possibilities for this tight bunch remain endless.
Based on rating 2.8/5
Under Construction Isaac Wood's unexpected departure on the heels of Ants From Up There put Black Country New Road in an unenviable position. The collective were showered with acclaim for their obvious compositional prowess, but Isaac had been the distinctive voice to shape the band with effortless turns of phrases that ranged from timely ("she had Billie Eilish style") to timeless (the entirety of "The Place Where He Inserted The Blade"). Rather than try to replace him, the band would instead clear the table and start anew, opting to only perform new songs written without him as a way to honor his irreplaceable stature.
Based on rating 1/10
Black Country New Road immediately won over the hearts of many a music critic with For the First Time, an angular album from a band that dazzled us with their unexpected fluency in both the language of jagged post-punk and the idiosyncratic, colorful chatter of free jazz. If their debut didn’t nab you, well, 2022’s Ants From Up There, with its departure to a sweeter brand of expansive melancholy, certainly grabbed you by the heartstrings and, at the very least, reminded you that you spent a lot of time in high school crying to Arcade Fire songs. When original lead singer Isaac Wood abruptly departed, Black Country New Road faced the daunting challenge of reinventing themselves while still facing the overwhelming expectations noted above.
Opinion: Absolutly essential
‘Forever Howlong’ is so distinct from Black Country, New Road's past albums that you'd be forgiven for thinking it was made by a different band altogether. If ‘Live at Bush Hall’ (2023) was their tentative first step towards finding their footing after vocalist Isaac Wood's sudden departure in 2022, then 'Forever Howlong' is their jubilant rebirth. Under the masterful guidance of producer James Ford (Fontaines DC, Arctic Monkeys, Blur), and with Tyler Hyde, May Kershaw, and Georgia Ellery stepping in to handle vocal duties, BCNR have shed their post-punk roots entirely to embrace a kaleidoscopic blend of folk, baroque pop, and alternative rock.
Opinion: Fantastic
During their original run with frontman Isaac Wood, Black Country, New Road quickly earned themselves a feverish and obsessive fanbase. Something about Wood's raw sprechgesang vignettes, combined with the band's behemoth post-rock-klezmer-art-punk fusion, really spoke to a lot of people. In many internet music circles, 'Ants From Up There' and 'For the First Time' remain absolutely core texts.
'Forever Howlong'
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