In recent months I have been diving deeper into the rabbit hole of the alternative/post-punk genre made by clinically depressed people. It is filled to the brim with great instrumental sections, seven-plus minute songs, and very poetic writing which are all things I love to see in music. When I was seeing a lot of buzz on Twitter about this album “Ants From Up There” by a band that goes by the name Black Country, New Road, I felt obligated to check it out.
It took a couple of listens for the project to click with me, as it is very dense, but over the last week or so I have been finding myself enjoying a great deal of the content on this album. Singer Isaac Wood has a similar style to King Krule which I instantly gravitated towards. The mood throughout the project is very somber, and I’ve picked up the general theme of the album is driven by a breakup that Wood has gone through recently.
Something that stuck with me from my very first listen of this album was the incredible nature of the final three tracks, with “Show Me the Place Where He Inserted the Blade” probably being my favorite on the whole album. The final track is nearly 15 minutes long, essentially containing three full songs combined together which climaxes in the last two minutes with a collage of sound I can’t possibly capture. You just have to hear it for yourself.
The instrumental work on this album is unique. On many songs, a broad and in-your-face instrument work is used very sparingly and the album as a whole is very quiet and reserved. It is a cohesive body of work though, as it often seems like musical elements from previous songs are reintroduced throughout the album in a satisfying way. There is also very impressive drumming on some of the tracks where it almost sounds like drummer Charlie Wayne drives the song in a direction the others seem to be fighting against until everything clicks with a tempo change or vocal style change.
This is an album that I am still deciphering, and I will have to listen to it a few more times to feel like I fully “get it,” but I see the vision and it’s beyond impressive. I recommend giving this new Black Country, New Road album a listen if I’ve mentioned anything about it that has piqued your interest. It is getting a lot of love from critics and social media alike, described as a monumental moment in the alternative/shoegaze/post-punk genre. My score could definitely go up in the future but for now, I would rate it a 7/10.
Other things I’ve been listening to:
Cities Aviv – Man Plays the Horn
Nicholas Craven – Craven N
Yeat – Alive
V Don – The Bone Collector
