Considering London septet Black Country, New Road made it onto our most anticipated albums of the year not once but twice, it’s safe to say we’re pretty excited about them. That excitement builds again today with the revalation of new song and video “Track X”, taken from debut album For the first time, which arrives in early February. Of the new track, the band say:
“Track X is a song we first worked on in 2018 but one that never made it out into our live performances. We decided to resurrect it during the recording of For the first time and assemble it in the studio. The story is old but a good one and worth telling. We believe that people will enjoy singing along.”
On “Track X”, Black Country, New Road display a markedly different sound to the raucous post-punk we’ve come to know them for – this time building a song out of simplistic guitar melodies overlaid with wisps of violin, sax and female backing vocals. This forms a swooning and romantic sound, a perfect vessel for Isaac Wood’s story about dancing with someone to Jerskin Fendrix and getting down on his knees in front of black midi to profess his love. Of course, there’s still the rougher edges in his words, most notably when he sings “I sacrificed the goat / In your name in the very same room / Where we fucked as kids,” and yet the super sweet, melodious and summery atmosphere is not disturbed. A track that tells us not to assume we know everything Black Country, New Road have in store for us, “Track X” should keep us just about patient until we get to hear the full album in a few weeks.
As in-person live performances remain an impossibility, Black Country, New Road have also announced a global livestream event taking place on March 6 at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall – full details here.
Their debut album For the first time comes out on February 5 through Ninja Tune (pre-save). You can find the band on Bandcamp, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
