When prompted to imagine England’s indie rock scene, few would envision a sextet of saxophone, piano and violin-wielding musicians. However, Black Country, New Road (BC,NR) embraces unconventionality beyond their instruments, extending into their unique evolution.
Formed in 2018 after the disbandment of their previous band, Nervous Conditions, BC,NR has garnered a devout fan base despite being a relatively new group. From their 2019 singles “Athens, France” and “Sunglasses” to their first studio album, “For the first time,” released in 2021 and earning a Mercury Prize nomination, the group has seen early success.
“These dizzyingly ambitious capers are where Black Country, New Road come into their own: wordy, abrasive, rhapsodic, absurd,” Jazz Monroe said in his Pitchfork review. “They epitomize the recent wave of British ‘sprechgesang’ — mostly young, sardonic speaker-songwriters using flinty post-punk to skewer suspect worldviews, starting with their own.”
In 2022, their sound took a detour from the abrasive post-rock of their previous album with the release of the melodramatic breakup album “Ants From Up There.” In an unexpected turn of events, lead vocalist Isaac Wood left the band four days before its release. This time, however, the band remained together and continued working on new music.
In 2023, they released their third studio album, “Live at Bush Hall,” featuring songs created for their summer 2022 tour after Wood’s departure.
“None of Black Country, New Road’s newly anointed vocalists can match Wood’s natural, scenery-chewing gravitas—nor do they try to,” Stuart Berman said in his Pitchfork review. “But each singer subtly carves out a distinct personality that helps nudge BC,NR toward both giddy new heights and devastating new depths.”
After two years of writing new music, BC,NR has made their triumphant return to the music scene with the single “Besties,” which premiered on Jan. 30.
For “Besties,” violinist Georgia Ellery takes lead vocals for the first time. The song contains the explosive jubilance of Ellery’s other band, Jockstrap’s “Greatest Hits” — albeit less electronic — blended with the wistful, yearning folk-ballad quality of “Glasgow” or “Sexy 2.” Compared to BC,NR’s discography, “Besties” continues to mark the divergence from Wood’s spoken-word rock sound while retaining the classical instrumental flourishes consistent with their prior albums.
The accompanying music video features band members Ellery, Tyler Hyde and May Kershaw in their respective settings — a firework-filled open field, a birthday party and a piano recital. Each scene intimately showcases the members’ shift in expression as they realize they would rather be with their friend. The remainder of the video follows them sprinting amid chaos and sweeping instrumental flourishes. In a moment of sweet irony, the winded trio swaps original places, still alone, yet united in sentiment. True to its endearingly juvenile title, “Besties” adds to the repertoire of songs touting true-blue friendship in a romance-glorifying musical industry.
“Friendship beats all else,” Ewan Gleadow said in his Cult Following review. “As soppy a message it may be in the wrong hands, Black Country, New Road feels like an instrumental powerhouse, the classier tones of a six-person unit hard at work. This is where the real joy comes from. Their friendship is important to the lyrical choices, the doubts and decisions eased over by those closest to us.”
BC,NR’s fourth studio album, “Forever Howlong,” will be released April 4.
Tessa Kang is an Arts & Entertainment Staff Writer. She can be reached at tokang@uci.edu.
Edited by Lillian Dunn and Xinyu Zhang
