“Twee” is the charge levelled at Black Country, New Road by disgruntled followers of the Cambridge-formed band. True enough, the publicity photos for their new album make them look like the cast of a Wes Anderson film; and yes, their new songs feature the use of recorders and titles such as “Besties”. But Forever Howlong turns out to be as venturesome in its own way as its acclaimed predecessors.
The album is the sextet’s first studio record since former frontman Isaac Wood’s abrupt departure in 2022, days before the release of their second album Ants from Up There. His mannered drawl and sardonic lyrics, threaded by unreliable narration, gave conceptual shape to the twists and turns of their music. He has been replaced by three of his ex-bandmates, who alternate lead vocals: violinist Georgia Ellery, bassist Tyler Hyde and keyboardist May Kershaw.
These three female voices represent “a pretty wide spectrum of womanhood,” according to Hyde. In fact, their singing sounds almost indistinguishable, but the shift in tone from Wood’s more antagonistic presence is marked. Announced by the zany harpsichord intro of opening track “Besties”, the musical arrangements bring out the antic aspect of the band’s character. There are a lot of interlocking parts, as though the sixpiece — also featuring saxophonist and flautist Lewis Evans, guitarist Luke Mark and drummer Charlie Wayne — were constructing an elaborate clockwork plaything.
The “world’s second-best Slint tribute act”, in the self-mocking description of a lyric from their 2021 debut For the First Time, is no more. Instead of brooding US post-rockers, the principal point of reference now is Joanna Newsom’s baroque-pop. But the results are as slippery and inventive as their previous work.
“Besties” uses jolly chamber-pop with an unhinged edge to tell the cleverly concocted tale of unrequited sexual desire between friends. “Salem Sisters” is a blackly funny vision of female outspokenness and witch-burning, surreally set at a summer barbecue. “Two Horses” sweeps us into a Western-themed fantasy of tragic romantic entanglement with gripping transitions in tempo and intensity. Twee is not the word.
★★★★☆
‘Forever Howlong’ is released by Ninja Tune
