Black Country, New Road have announced details surrounding their upcoming album, Forever Howlong, which is due out April 4 via Ninja Tune. Their first since 2022’s Ants From Up There, the record was produced by James Ford (Fontaines, D.C., Arctic Monkeys, Blur) and finds settling into a new songwriting routine which centered around Tyler Hyde, Georgia Ellery, and May Kershaw.
“It created a real through line for the album, having three girls singing,” says Ellery. “It’s definitely very different to Ants From Up There, because of the female perspective – and the music we’ve made also compliments that.”
Rounding out the bunch is Lewis Evans, Luke Mark, and Charlie Wayne, and all six members tackle multiple roles and instruments within the band. Forever Howlong allows them to continue their cross-genre explorations, finding refuge in folk, prog, Baroque pop, and alt-rock aesthetics without sacrificing their own unique perspectives on how these genres could (and should) interact with one another.
The lead single “Besties” leans into the Baroque aspect of their influences, channeling the euphoria of sunshine pop bands like Sagittarius and The Association before venturing into jaunty folk-pop territory. It’s a perfect encapsulation of their affection for mashing up sounds and exploring countless melodic tributaries.
The track comes with an accompanying video directed by Rianne White, and she remembers, “‘Besties’ came into my world with a dance of feelings, with such an understood concept of exploring the core emotion of taking on the world, and its obstacles to be with her, the bestie, again.“
She continues: “Building this with the band took me to so many memories, informed by a collective of experiences from my childhood writing letters and maps to my bestie, into formulating our own map and sliding-doors effect narrative – charged with the instinctual punch and intuition of: I need to be with my bestie now. Working with Georgia, May and Tyler was a real treat across their performances especially, and quite literally, running from the more conventional lip-sync world, and injecting cameo moments with Charlie, Lewis and Luke.
“Knee-high in January’s jacket of mud, darkness, fields, street corners and a pack of hounds we found the beating heart of a world made better by chasing love and connection. Shooting in these conditions, and having fun is a real testament to a fantastic team and collective of people! It’s been such a pleasure, this song was love at first harpsichord!“
Watch the clip below and check out the band’s upcoming tour dates.
Tour Dates:
Sat 7 Jun – Primavera Sound – Barcelona, ES
Fri 15 Aug – Paredes De Coura – Paredes De Coura, PT
Sun 17 Aug – Lowlands Festival – Biddinghuizen, NL
Thu 28 – Sun 31 Aug – End Of The Road – Dorset, UK
Thu 11 Sep – Rock City – Nottingham, UK
Fri 12 Sep – Albert Hall – Manchester, UK
Mon 15 Sep – Olympia – Dublin, IRE
Thu 18 Sep – Barrowland – Glasgow, UK
Sat 20 Sep – The Glasshouse – Gateshead, UK
Mon 22 Sep – Beacon – Bristol, UK
Wed 24 Sep – The Corn Exchange – Cambridge, UK
Thu 9 Oct – Casino De Paris – Paris, FR
Fri 10 Oct – Stereolux – Nantes, FR
Sun 12 Oct – Paradiso – Amsterdam, NL
Tue 14 Oct – Gloria – Cologne, DE
Wed 15 Oct – Astra – Berlin, DE
Fri 17 Oct – Vega – Copenhagen, NL
Sat 18 Oct – Fallan – Stockholm, SWE
Sun 19 Oct – Sentrum Scene – Oslo, NO
Tue 21 Oct – Mojo – Hamburg, GE
Wed 22 Oct – Roxy – Prague, CZ
Thu 23 Oct – Les Docks – Lausanne, SWI
Sat 25 Oct – Magazzini Generali – Milan, ITA
Sun 26 Oct – Epicerie Moderne – Lyon, FR
Tue 28 Oct – Ancienne Belgique – Brussels, BE
Thu 30 Oct – Brighton Dome – Brighton, UK
Fri 31 Oct – O2 Brixton Academy – London, UK
Forever Howlong is due out April 4 via Ninja Tune. You can pre-order the album here. Follow the band on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.