REVIEW: Black Country, New Road - Forever Howlong

Black Country, New Road have been one of the most consistently exciting bands in the UK over the last few years. Their new album Forever Howlong is truly great, like all of their past work, yet takes them into a different direction - a dazzling mixture of baroque pop and prog that has them feeling like an unearthed band from the 70s.

The album boldly opens on an harpsichord solo, with the song ‘Besties’ showing where the band currently aims to go, somewhere very vintage yet still looking forward. The track itself was one of the singles released before the album dropped and did split some of the fanbase, as the track isn’t as dark as their last two studio albums. The track itself - and much of the album - feels almost like incidental tracks on 70's Genesis albums. The band shares many parallels with Genesis at this point in their story, with this being the first album the band have created after their famous frontman left the band. The weight of expectation to create a brilliant album surrounds them, but the end project more than lives up to expectations of greatness, albeit with a slightly altered sound.

The band are such a solidified unit within the album, working together as a team with every instrument breathing life into each of the tracks on display. The almost-vaudeville moments on the album, such as the track ‘Socks’, showcase the band’s ability to create these beautiful songs from the most unusual structures and influences. The album is very accessible for how unusual it is within the modern alternative music scene. There’s a plethora of sounds to be found that haven’t been heard in anything this mainstream for a while in music, and frankly the sheer prog-iness of the album is impressive. The only non-progressive thing about the album is the lack of long tracks, with every song being six minutes or less. The album is not only progressive in sound, but also in the fact that it clearly is pushing music forward. Black Country, New Road know what they want to create and nothing is holding them back.

The production is luxurious and organic, the album feels almost as it’s breathing, despite having such layered instrumentation. There’s an unusual energy from the production which also grounds every song, and you can tell this is an album made by humans expressing themselves as a group through art - this humanity takes away any sense of pretentiousness the album may have. This is music to be experienced, letting it wash over your ears as you feel out where the album is taking you. The band now having feminine lead vocals - that are less aggressive in nature than their previous lead singer - definitely helps the songs on this album keep that element of grounding, that may have been taken away with other vocals. The band are using the opportunity presented to them to explore something different in glorious fashion.

There’s so many elements of a multitude of 70's prog bands, with some of the vocal layering of a band like Gentle Giant, the slightly darker acoustic passages of a band like Comus, the beautiful medieval balladry of a band like Renaissance. This isn’t to say that the album is derivative of these influences, but instead builds upon them in many ways. BC,NR stands out throughout all their work for pushing originality in their sound and this album demonstrates why, taking all these influences and channelling them through the band as a unit.

This may be one of the most truly beautiful albums to come out in recent memory, everything about it makes you need a break after to process the journey. Although not a concept album, it’s paced perfectly to be listened to in one go where songs compliment each other. There’s nothing really like Black Country, New Road this big currently. The album will introduce so many people to all the good reasons as to why music pushing genres is one of the best parts of music. Everything the band sets out to achieve in songs is met and exceeded. Tracks like ‘For The Cold Country’ are transportive, the grounded production just seems to elevate the song writing’s power. The song writing for an album this prog is tight. There's no self-indulgence on the album; everything serves its purpose - quite notably, the title track itself expands some of these ideas and compounds on the beauty and subtlety of the release, letting the album flow over it into the final song on the LP.

As an album, it truly is a one-of-a-kind experience of true musical excellence. After the album ends, and you’re surrounded in silence, emotions will be running high all over the place, and the hairs will be up on the back of your neck. Emotionally complete in its delivery yet confusing to process, like all good art, this is not an album to be ignored - it is an album to be truly loved.

Score: 10/10

Forever Howlong will be released on April 4th 2025 via Ninja Tune.

Words: William Freeman

Photos: Black Country, New Road