Black Country, New Road: "Ants From Up There" (Album Review)

Genres: Art Rock, Post-Rock, Chamber Pop

After an excellent debut album and a series of well received singles, the hype for the next Black Country, New Road seemingly created standards that would be impossible for any band to match. The key word here being “seemingly”, as Ants From Up There is a slap in the face to critics who expected the band to go through a sophomore slump.

Ants From Up There is evidently the result of carefully cultivated passion. The record is rife with rawness, a quality that is not sacrificed by the catchy melodies that each song features. This is in no small part due to Black Country, New Road’s lead singer Isaac Wood, who created grandiose portraits for a variety of topics. His vocals are not firm and unwavering, but instead are harsh and vulnerable. There is an intense amount of emotion that shows through the roughness in Wood’s voice that could not have been depicted with a different vocal performance. The screams about “your generous loan…your crippling interest” on "Basketball Shoes" are filled with such raw emotion that I can’t think of these lyrics being performed in any other way, or by any other vocalist.

The lyricism throughout every song is nothing short of genius and gorgeous. Each track feels like it has its own separate environment and yet they all work together in showcasing the emotional weight that develops from a relationship. The atmosphere that the lyrics create separates each song from one another, and also from anything else by any other artist. The strength of this quality also lies in how there are few dull moments across the album. The distinct “voice” of each song makes listening a more engaging experience. With every different song, there also exists a different world. From the references to Warhammer 40,000 on "Chaos Space Marine" to the metaphors about bread on the aptly titled "Bread Song", new scenes are built and explored.

BC,NR are no strangers to putting instrumental  tracks and breaks throughout their work, which is why it’s no surprise that Ants starts off with the piece "Intro", featuring a series of developing and expanding loops. In under a minute, you can get an understanding of what the type of experience you can expect. It’s such a simple and straightforward method of acting as a prelude to the album’s intricacies and grand nature.

On an individual basis, each song understands its place in relation to expanding upon the themes of the album. "Concorde" is the narrative center of Ants, which could possibly be a burden for a singular song to carry. However, this does not feel like it is the case at all for "Concorde", effortlessly creating a scene of a dying love. Ants is an album that is full of love and passion, and is able to depict tension in a way that enhances the emotional weight of these topics. The boldness of the way in which expression is carried out creates such a huge scale of drama and importance. "Bread Song" is a powerful track in how its theme of yearning is presented so extravagantly.

Although there is much focus on directly exploring the depths of interpersonal relationships, I also appreciate the indirect ways that BCNR uses to express their ideas. Like previous work by the band, Ants is self-referential and filled with pop culture allusions, mentioning lightsabers, Kanye West, and Charli XCX. Being able to spot these references and callbacks to earlier tracks adds to the cohesion of the record. It helps the album form its own identity, feeling like something only Black Country, New Road could possibly create.

Black Country, New Road crafts an epic with Ants From Up There, carrying a tremendous weight in its sound. The unabashed quality of being larger than life is embraced, which does wonders in adding potency to the monumental nature of all the songs. The best image for the feeling this album evokes I can think of, is going outside on a hot summer day, closing your eyes and embracing the rays of the radiant sun, feeling warmth all across your skin. Ants From Up There is an album that just feels complete. From a conceptual standpoint, the development is perfect and is wrapped up completely with the magnificent three part song, "Basketball Shoes". The instrumentation feels like it’s from a band that has carefully honed their craft for decades, and can work together at such an intimate level. The songwriting is incredibly layered and fluid, telling an unfolding story. Ants From Up Here can make you headbang furiously, cry woefully, and scream along to the lyrics in the comfort of your room. The strength of this album is the power it has to create these strong and real emotions that last even after the listening part of the experience is over. 

Favorite Favorite Tracks: The Place Where He Inserted the Blade, Good Will Hunting, Concorde, Chaos Space Marine, Basketball Shoes, Bread Song, Haldern

Least Favorites: NOPE!

Enjoyment: High 9 (maybe 10)

Critically: 10

Arbitrary Number: 10/10