By Fenton Wright, Staff Writer
Artist: Black Country, New Road
Album: Forever Howlong
Favorite Songs: “Two Horses,” “For the Cold Country,” and “Nancy Tries to Take the Night”
For Fans Of: Elliot Smith, Car Seat Headrest, Joanna Newsom
A New Era...
Forever Howlong is the third studio album from the British band Black Country, New Road. The album consists of 11 songs, and is another chapter in what has been a tumultuous history for the band.
This album by BCNR comes after the band lost their lead singer Isaac Wood just a few years ago. There were a lot of questions that people had. Who was going to lead the band? What would their music sound like after losing such an integral piece to their success? What would the future of BCNR be? The answer would be to separate vocal duties between three members: Tyler Hyde, Georgia Ellery, and May Kershaw.
The outcome of that switch was songs that sound brighter than their previous albums, For the first time and Ants From Up There. Some of the songs on Forever Howlong have been performed live before, but they have been re-configured and re-recorded for this album. Their reinvention and courage to constantly try new things on their albums is what makes BCNR so fascinating to listen to.
...With New Sounds!
The first song on the album, “Besties,” was the first indication that we had of a new album by BCNR. It was released in January of this year, and set our expectations high for what was to come. This song is mesmerizing, and as all BCNR songs are, extremely relatable. The feeling of falling in love with your best friend is a common one. “Besties” has one of my favorite lines in the entire album, “I wanna be anywhere other than this.” That lyric in particular is in relation to how painful it can be to be in a weird middle ground between friendship and romance.
The next song on the album is “The Big Spin.” This is one of the most enchanting songs on the album. It takes us through some unusual lyrics, as BCNR is known to do. “The Big Spin” has some amazing metaphors of tethering yourself to another person. Both of you grow together and out of your new relationship, something new can grow from the “ghost trunk.”
“Socks,” the third song on the album, is one of my favorite songs on the album, and, in my opinion, is the most beautiful song on the album. With the slow crescendo of the instrumentals and intensity of the lyrics, “Socks” feels like a classic BCNR song that would be on Ants From Up There. This song reminds us that there is good in our lives despite our regrets. There is a specific line in the song that invites us to reflect on that: “There are so many chances steeped in regret, no matter which one you choose, baby, you're always gonna lose.” We have to live with our choices and recognize the fact that if we could change what we have done, we still would have regrets.
The arrangements of the instruments in this song are what truly make it amazing. The slow build up of the piano, soft tapping of the drums, and the smoothness of the saxophone are what bring this song to life. And then, at the end, all of those elements intensify and become more pronounced and suddenly drop, leaving us with a feeling of awe.
“Salem Sisters” is the fourth song on the album, and it has a lot to live up to coming off of the masterpiece that is “Socks.” Unlike “Socks,” “Salem Sisters” focuses on the vocals of Georgia Ellery. It allows Ellery to show off her incredible range, as well as the amazing backing vocals of Tyler Hyde and May Kershaw.
“Two Horses” is the fifth and best song on the album. There are so many moving pieces in it, that it is hard to mention them all. It starts off as this story of someone travelling alone in the world, longing to be with somebody. The “thieves” mentioned in the story, to me, represent people trying to take the narrator’s longing for love and to be with someone. When the narrator finally meets the person who they think might be the right person, he takes advantage of her. He kills her horses and she sees him for what he truly is, a leech.
I like this song, because it is the perfect combination of storytelling and instrumental bliss. It takes us through an amazing journey of finding what you believe to be love, only to be let down in the end. Add to that the swelling of the music and the surrender of the narrator at the end, and the song feels complete.
Familiar Stories
The sixth song on the album, “Mary,” paints a gut-wrenching depiction of feeling like an outsider at school. The acoustic nature of this song makes it even more emotionally charged. We see this girl, Mary, going through her daily routine of tricking herself into believing that this day will be better than the last. The lyrics in that part of the song are beautiful: “Make this week a wonder, better than the one before, but she knows it won't be so.” Her classmates bully her relentlessly, and at home she has to put up a front and pretend that everything is okay. “Mary” is one of the darker songs on the album, and the vulnerability and emotion is what makes it so good. The guitar part on this song specifically is repetitive in a way that entrances us and immerses the listener in this story.
“Happy Birthday,” the seventh song on the album, was released in March and is another one of the songs that was released in the buildup to Forever Howlong. As a song, “Happy Birthday” serves to remind us that wealth and privilege do not inherently make you happy. The song tells us that instead, privilege can wall you off and make you reserved from the world, rather than enjoying what life has to offer.
The third and final song that was released before the full album was “For the Cold Country.” It was released later in March, and, in my opinion, is the most poetic song on the album. “For the Cold Country” is the eighth song on the album and it is about a medieval knight finding himself and what his cause for living is now that the fight is over. One of the best lyrics in this song and the entire album is, “I stood with my ghost, we tried to hold the kite, my wooden hand, my wooden heart, now all the fights are fought and moments gone, but still, they must be here, they must…”
Throughout the song, there is this mention of a kite, that is representative of the knight himself. His life is full of ups and downs like a kite in the sky, but no longer can he hold the kite. He no longer has a reason to fight and he struggles with that loss of security.
I love this song for a multitude of reasons, the main one being that each line tells the full story of the song. For instance, the first lyrics, “Watch the kite, it soars, then falls,” are indicative of the knight’s own story. That is truly poetic. That is beautiful.
“Nancy Tries to Take the Night” is the ninth song on Forever Howlong, and like “Mary,” is another song that relies on the stripped down acoustic instruments and the rawness of the lyrics to immerse the listener in the story. This song paints a picture of a woman, Nancy, who due to her recklessness has a child, and this child, that throughout the pregnancy brought her pain and shame, has now died. Nancy tries to lean on her mother for support during her pregnancy and after, but finds only a small bit of solace in her. This is a brutal song. The mother-daughter relationship is depicted across two generations, where in one instance, Nancy comes to love the baby she originally was ashamed of, but in Nancy’s mother’s instance she pressures her daughter to have this child which eventually leads to her taking her own life.
The title track of the album, “Forever Howlong,” is the tenth and second to last song on the album. To me, this song is about dealing with depression and the mundaneness of everyday life. The narrator’s life in this song is exceedingly boring. There is nothing of interest outside of this old man. There are hints of things in the past that have happened to the listener, but that is not this song.
The final song on the album, “Goodbye (Don’t Tell Me),” is a folk song at its core. It has the components of mental health that BCNR are known for whilst also incorporating a flower power-esque vibe to it. It is the perfect ending to this album, as it has all six members of the band written all over it.
Six Of Britain’s Best
Despite lead singer Isaac Wood quitting, Black Country, New Road has managed to reinvent themselves in a way that I have never seen before. It was always going to be hard for them to outdo Ants From Up There, but I think that on Forever Howlong they do exactly that. All six of the members, Tyler Hyde, Georgia Ellery, May Kershaw, Lewis Evans, Charlie Wayne, and Luke Mark, have their fingerprints on this album. The unique mesh of drums, keyboards, violins, guitars, vocals, and a saxophone is what makes BCNR so great! Their courage to try new things on this album despite the expectation that they make another Ants From Up There is astounding, and it works! For me, this album is so well arranged and sung with such passion that I can’t help but love it!
Friends Forever
I can’t think of a better way to spend an hour of your day than listening to Forever Howlong. There really is something for everyone on this album, so go and listen to it! So, join them on this new path, because there has never been a better time to start listening to Black Country, New Road!
