April 2025 AOTM

Black Country, New Road - Forever Howlong

Tracks 11

Runtime 52mins

Favorite Tracks The Big Spin, Two Horses, Nancy Tries to Take the Night


I, like many other fans of Black Country, New Road’s earlier work, wasn’t sure what to expect with this album. In 2022, after the release of their album Ants From Up There, their lead vocalist Isaac Wood left the group. Ants From Up There is, and I will not sugarcoat it, a perfect album, and Isaac was a massive part of that. His wavering breaking vocals were raw and real in a truly terrifying and beautiful way. Without him, it’s hard to imagine what BCNR is.


Forever Howlong answers that question, reminding us that without Isaac there are still 6 insanely talented musicians in BCNR, and giving us a formal introduction to May Kershaw, their pianist (and accordionist) and now lead vocalist. 


Without Isaac they are not the same, but they don’t try to be. Their previous style can be categorized pretty firmly as post rock, but with May at the helm, the group takes a hard left into full on Baroque pop. With their instruments moving away from electric guitar and more towards fingerpicked acoustic along with more violin and cello, May’s high, bouncy, and precise vocal style, and constant key and meter change, this is a whole new sound for them and it works so well. 


May’s voice has this breathy softness to it that I can’t get enough of. It’s level and precise enough to function like a flute does, and she uses vibrato very sparingly but every time she does is a high point on the album for me. 


My favorite example is towards the end of the album. Nancy Tries To Take The Night, a track that floors me everytime, is a perfect representation of everything I love about this album. It begins with an almost two minute acoustic guitar duet that seems, in true classical baroque fashion, almost too complex to follow. But it becomes the backbone of the song as May starts singing, her voice dancing with through and all around the guitars, moving so smoothly as the meter bounces back and forth between 4/4 and 6/4. It’s like watching two eagles locked in a death spiral, so sure that this fall will be their last, and seeing them pull away just before the ground every time. 


And it’s that point, just before the ground, that the other instruments come in, a doubled clarinet and saxophone line in 5/4. It’s a strange, frantic, almost panic inducing time signature, especially played at the speed members Lewis Evans and Tyler Hyde are playing. And again they make a classic baroque decision, and the song flies into a web of polyrhythms, drums in 6/4 over the 5/4 of the woodwinds, the woodwinds flying easily apart from the meter only occasionally resetting themselves with an extra few notes, May stepping in to match every move. And just when it feels truly chaotic, when you feel truly lost at what’s doing what or where the measures even start and end, you’re back in 4/4 for the grand finale. 


It takes so much love and so much care to write and even just to play something this delicate. Black Country, New Road is a truly singular group and with this album they’ve proven that no matter who’s at the helm, though it may not sound like what you expect, the quality of their art is unwavering. 



Other albums I enjoyed this month


Macie Stewart - When the Distance is Blue

  • In the running for the single best composed piece of ambient music I’ve ever heard

The Convenience - Like Cartoon Vampires

  • Like the strokes but weirder and with much more range

Julian Baker • TORRES - Send A Prayer My Way

  • No unnecessary bells and whistles, just a great folk/country album

Perry Maysun - PLEASE TELL ME IM PRETTY!!!

  • I’ve talked a lot about how much I love Perry Maysun and I think this might be his best album yet

Tennis - Face Down In The Garden

  • Sadly the final release from indie pop duo Tennis, they simply do not miss

Um Jennifer? - Um Comma Jennifer Question Mark

  • The first album from one of my favorite bands from the Brooklyn transcore scene. I love the riot grrrl inspiration

Djo - The Crux

  • Psychedelic pop rock album for fans of dad rock and Sgt. Pepper era Beatles

Daughter of Swords - Alex

  • Bubbly indie pop you can taste



Albums from previous months I’ve been enjoying


Marlow Shields - Fight for Your Life, Pt. 2

  • Influences from bossa nova, American Folk, and sgt Pepper era Beatles. It’s very easy to forget that being in Brooklyn means that any random person you meet at the bar might be one of the best songwriters you’ve ever heard. Marlow is my latest reminder

Saba • No ID - From The Private Collection of Saba and No ID

  • Jazz, alt Hip-hop, and neo soul, all my favorite parts of Saba

High. - Come Back down

  • Straight up shoegaze album, love the production style on this

aya - hexed!

  • One of the best electronic projects I’ve heard in a long time

Deafheaven - Lonely People With Power

  • All the Blackgaze weight of Sunbather combined with the clean melodies of Infinite Grantie