New Music Friday!

musicjunkiegreg said:
First new album release listened to from 2025 Q2: Black Country, New Road with their 3rd LP, Forever Howlong. The British sextet (formerly septet) is back as a new iteration of the band (although the six remaining members are members from their first two LPs). Yes, this is their first album sans lead vocalist Isaac Wood. On Forever Howlong, the vocal chops are shared between the band's three female members, Georgia Ellery, Tyler Hyde, and May Kershaw. And I found that, after my first listen, this offers a female perspective and invigoration to the band that I didn't expect. Because, c'mon, losing a vocalist like Wood would (lol, wood would) normally be pretty detrimental to a group. But BC, NR made the adjustment and ran with it with flying colors on this one. The songwriting and vocal performances from the three ladies were excellent.

View attachment 230761

I am a big fan of their first two LPs and I was, admittedly, pretty nervous for how they would follow up those two records without Wood.. But the fresh direction they've gone in with Forever Howlong is a wholly original experience, and I'm left only to applaud the group on their efforts here. There is a certain feel-good, cheeriness on this album that didn't exist on their previous projects. And the band is still taking risks, still being inventive, and still making bold and creative musical choices here. If you weren't a fan of BC, NR's first two albums (or maybe you weren't a fan of Isaac Wood's vocals, specifically) and may be considering skipping over this one, then pump the brakes. If I described you here, then I believe this is definitely something that you should give a chance to. If you're a fan of their previous two efforts, and a fan of Isaac Wood's style, then, surely, this new album will be an adjustment. But, as I said, the core band is still here. The band's instrumentation is still top notch and they were as unpredictable as ever on this one.

Favorite tracks after the initial listen were: 'Nancy Tries to Take the Night', 'Two Horses', 'Salem Sisters', 'For the Cold Country', and 'Socks'. For the numbers people, after one listen, this is a solid 8.5 out of 10 for me. And it may garner a stronger score with more listens. What a great way to kick off a jam-packed Q2!

Click to expand...

Listening to Black Country, New Road - Forever Howlong now and I agree with everything stated here but would also like to expand a bit.

This is not remotely close to the post-punk that BC, NR were creating under Isaac Woodā€™s lead. I understand why they would keep the band name the same but this is as big a shift in sound as big as Fleetwood Mac moving from Prog to Pop with the addition of Buckingham and Nicks. Any comps to the previous iteration of the group will not do this album any favors regardless if people liked or disliked their past albums. This is a completely different beast all together. About the only area that reminds me of the previous albums is some of the avant horn flourishes along with the complete disregard of normal pop song structure, I donā€™t know if any songs have what I would consider a verse-chorus-verse song structure, to be honest there might not be a typical chorus found throughout the albums runtime. This album is much more orchestral and baroque than anything they have released before.

Comparison wise I think if one enjoys Kate Nash 2007 album Made Of Brick, Joanna Newsomā€™s 2010 record, Have One On Me or any of Fiona Apple/Jon Brion collaborations will likely find something to love here. Itā€™s just so different than what came before I would imagine it is gonna be a shock to the system for anyone who hasnā€™t been paying attention.

I listened to the album while on a morning walk and quite enjoyed it but even knowing that there would be big changes, I feel like I am gonna need to listen further to really work out my full feelings on the album as a whole.
 
Last edited:
TenderLovingKillerĀ® said:
Listening to Black Country, New Road - Forever Howlong now and I agree with everything stated here but would also like to expand a bit.

This is not remotely close the post-punk that BC, NR were creating under Isaac Woodā€™s lead. I understand why they would keep the band name the same but this is as big a shift in sound as Fleetwood Mac moving from Prog to Pop with the addition of Buckingham and Nicks. Any comps to the previous iteration of the group will not do this album any favors regardless if people liked or disliked their past albums. This is a completely different beast all together. About the only area that reminds me of the previous albums is some of the avant horn flourishes along with the complete disregard of normal pop song structure, I donā€™t know if any songs have what I would consider a verse-chorus-verse song structure, to be honest there might not be a typical chorus found throughout the albums runtime. This album is much more orchestral and baroque than anything they have released before.

Comparison wise I think if one enjoys Kate Nash 2007 album Made Of Brick, Joanna Newsomā€™s 2010 record, Have One On Me or any of Fiona Apple/Jon Brion collaborations will like find something to love here. Itā€™s just so different than what came before I would imagine it is gonna be a shock to the system for anyone who hasnā€™t been paying attention.

I listened to the album while on a morning walk and quite enjoyed it but even knowing that there would be big chances, I feel like I am gonna need to listen further to really work out my full feelings on the album as a whole.
Click to expand...
Yes! I forgot to mention hearing the Joanna Newsome and Fiona Apple similarities as well.
 
TenderLovingKillerĀ® said:
About the only area that reminds me of the previous albums is some of the avant horn flourishes
Click to expand...
When I listened to it earlier this right here, is the only bit that made my ears perk up and reminded me of old BC,NR. Itā€™s so far removed from what they used to be. Not sure how it compares in quality yet but itā€™s very different.
 
TenderLovingKillerĀ® said:
Albums Iā€™m looking forward to this week:

Momma - Welcome To My Blue Sky
Black Country, New Road - Forever Howlong
Click to expand...
Same here! And both were great in my opinion. Maybe even AOTY material! I definitely prefer this iteration of BC,NR. I dug their debut and they were great live but I just lost interest with the follow up.
 
Last edited:
Momma is getting better on the 3rd listen. "Last Kiss" brings the guitars, some of the other songs are starting to stand out a bit.

BC,NR got worse on the second listen? I tried to pay attention to more things and realized I didn't like it that much. I'm just not getting it. It sounds like a forgotten Kate Bush album.

Florist was a decent listen but I think this kind of album feels very dated and harkens back to when Frankie Cosmos was the next big thing circa 2015-2018~.

Wet who I came across randomly today was actually not bad, I might revisit that one. Their first album was a favorite from the VMP store from back in '16.

Tried listening to the new Sleigh Bells but I could not get through the first song. No thank you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top