The journey to Black Country, New Road’s new road is long and winding thanks to lead vocalist Isaac Wood bailing from the band in 2022.
On Forever Howlong, their third studio album, they find the sunny uplands of a pleasantly pastoral sound.
Opening with lead single ‘Besties’, sung by violinist Georgia Ellery, the phantoms of Wood’s angst take flight.
Indeed, much of the album is a paean to the blessed BFF. Like the cover – a painting of a positively enchanting Sun showing off his favourite star – songs like ‘Happy Birthday’ are unabashedly congenial, categorically cute.
At 52 minutes, Forever Howlong does, at times, meander into the wild blue yonder of whimsy.
The recorders on the title track conjure up memories of school assemblies. And the occasional Proustian fluffs in the instrumentation make it feel forever too long.
Yet still, with or without Wood, it’s hard not to be impressed by Black Country, New Road’s twee-toned turnaround.
Photo credit: Sergione Infuso/Corbis via Getty Images)
