One year since the release of their debut, Black Country, New Road reveal their emotionally driven sophomore album ‘Ants From Up There’
A beautifully bittersweet exploration of human — and intergalactic — emotion guaranteed to blow your mind.
★★★★★
Photo: Press
I would like to preface this review by saying that my first listen of this album was incredibly close to a religious experience — there is honestly nothing out there quite like it. After a debut as sparkling as For the first time, Black Country, New Road have truly outdone themselves with this one.
Intro acts as an excitable run-up to what I can only describe as a collection of Black Country, New Road’s finest work so far. It creates a deceivingly optimistic atmosphere for such a bittersweet album. We then launch into the second track of the album, Chaos Space Marine, in which the band flaunt their musical talent through the wide scape of instrumentation in an incredibly flamboyant way. Chaos Space Marine represents a feeling of alienation, wanting to feel part of something larger. It hosts a heartfelt chorus about returning back to a place you’ve never been to. Devastatingly exciting and an all-around beautiful track in every sense.
Concorde contrasts this track massively, a gentle, tender story of a heartbreaking intergalactic love affair. The track is comparable to Sunglasses, from their debut album, exhibiting a similar spiral into a raw, emotional ending. Concorde, however, has a more sophisticated feel as it represents a mature feeling of desperation to be needed by somebody. The ending is practically anthemic, however still retains the lulling swings of the brass.
The third track brings a more bare, raw dimension to Black Country, New Road’s work — it is the sensitive, heartfelt Bread Song. A stripped-back, raw representation of self-reflection. Tender guitar accompanies frontman Isaac’s gentle vocals as the strings bring a more dramatic and tragic air to the track, whilst complimenting the vocals, rather than overwhelming them. A beautifully tragic addition to the album.
Good Will Hunting massively contrasts its predecessor; a far more upbeat, funky track with some slower, more melodic sections dispersed between time signature changes. Unpredictable and packed with otherworldly, calculatedly nonsensical lyricism, the track takes itself far less seriously than others on the album, which is what renders it so refreshing.
Haldern is a track sandwiched between chaos, one which ironically was born from an improvisation at Haldern Pop Festival in 2020. Despite the more unorthodox style of writing for the track, it is tender, emotional and tranquil; it could even be said that the improvisation is what grants the lyrics a real raw sense of authenticity.
Another incredibly creative piece follows in the form of Mark's Theme. A hugely brass-driven number written for guitarist Lewis Evans’ late uncle, who was a huge fan of the band. The song, whilst its sentimentality shines through, is also a huge testament to the incredible musical skill of the band. Bringing instrumental orchestral pieces into the spotlight of alternative rock — and making it cool — is an achievement that will undoubtedly open doors within the genre.
Following on, The Place Where He Inserted the Blade: a shining, heartbreaking, beautiful blend of guitar and piano accompanying heartbreaking lyrics. A song about love, anxiety, wanting to be needed but equally fearing it. A dreamy yet terrifyingly relatable track that allows you to feel comfortable feeling uncomfortable things. It is warming and homely, yet the lyrics are deeply wounding. An absolute gem of a track destined to spark an inescapable rollercoaster of emotions within its listeners.
Toward the end of the album, we have two of the lengthiest tracks, Snow Globes, and the grand finale, Basketball Shoes. A particularly turbulent track, Snow Globes is home to three minutes of slowly building yet beautifully delicate instrumentals. The track swells seemingly exponentially until it reaches a peak of frantic drumming and repeated nonsensical lyricism, which, whilst being indecipherable, conveys desperation and pain but also an essence of euphoria through relief of release.
Last but certainly not least, the album closes with fan favourite Basketball Shoes, a twelve-minute live favourite that defines the band. Divided into three parts — separated by contrasting, melodic instrumentals — the track explores how it feels to keep up the appearance of getting better and moving on, being reminded of distant memories through dreams.
As with Snow Globes, the track swells gradually to reach turbulence by the end of the song, however, Basketball Shoes was built to be a finale as, unlike any other track on this album, the end feels truly resolved. Everything possible had been poured into the album and there wasn’t a second of listening where I doubted that this is the absolute best album I have heard in a very, very long time. It is indescribable and impossible to do justice, although I have tried my best. Having heard the recent news of Isaacs departure from the group, I wish them all the best.
