Photo by Simon Morrison
A young man with long hair stands right at the front of the crowd, centre stage. He sings every word of every song, seeming to conduct the band, his hands as batons. He looks like he got to the Albert Hall about a week before the gig and would have willingly fought anyone in the crowd to get to his prime spot. Black Country, New Road dedicate one song to him, and make sure he has a setlist from the night.
This is evidently a band with a dedicated fanbase. I, however, have come at their music obliquely. When people in your periphery are fans of certain bands you normally find yourself checking them out, and when I did I found their music a little angular, geometric, inaccessible. But the live experience sprinkles magic upon music, of course, and tonight the inaccessible becomes accessible.
It’s not only their own fans who fawn over them, willing to take this new road, wherever it’s leading. The critics love them, albums sell, and the first – 2021’s For The First Time was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. Maybe it’s the way this very light, whimsical, ensemble are able to blend incredible musicianship with shared songwriting skills to craft beautifully fractured, seemingly discordant sonic structures, impossibly complex constructions and yet ones effortlessly able to stand up. BC,NR formed in Cambridge in 2018 and there is something in this location – the same pastoral Englishness drawn from the Fens –that underpins the early, whimsical iteration of that other Cambridge band, Pink Floyd. The early BC,NR material was often fronted by guitarist and singer Isaac Woods, his voice a little reminiscent of Neil Hannon on the Divine Comedy albums. Woods left just before the release of the second album Ants From Up There, citing struggles with mental health. Rather than disband (and also like Floyd) the remaining members reconfigured the set-up, with the three female members of the band – Georgia Ellery, May Kershaw and Tyler Hyde sharing vocal duties. Out of respect for Woods they no longer perform any of the songs from those first two albums, which is largely why the bulk of tonight’s set is made up from this year’s Forever Howlong.
Tonight’s road begins with ‘Two Horses’ from that album and rolls along for a little over an hour, taking in stops at ‘Besties’, ‘Happy Birthday’ and ‘Nancy Tries To Take The Night’, among others, ending up in ‘For The Cold Country’… all from that same LP. The band are tight, precise, syncopated. The female leads share duties on vocals – three ethereal vocals, harmonising – and also switch instruments effortlessly, from keyboards, bass, violin, mandolin and guitar. At one point everyone turns into the stage, all playing what looks like oversized recorders, like those we played at primary school. The music might almost be ecclesiastical – perfect for the venue – the Albert Hall looking gorgeous, as ever, in its frayed, old religion, splendour.
Boys at the back, girls at the front, the feminine influence has perhaps made their sound even gentler, mellower, on tracks like ‘Salem
Photo by Simon Morrison
Sisters’. Musically, there is a lot going on. At one point Hyde plays bass with a bow, in a nod to Jimmy Page. At another, I’m sure I see an accordion, although it’s hard to tell when you’ve accidentally ordered a mega pint of wine, in a nod to Johnny Depp and my own inability to understand measurements. It’s not always gentle, of course, In one track Kershaw performs what equates to GBH on the piano. She also makes a speech about Gaza, which might be behind some of that energy. A Palestinian flag is draped over the piano throughout the set. Together, the instruments weave a deep, dense fabric of music, the sax stabs punching through to help punctuate the pieces, late Bowie vibes in the seeming discordant interplay of instruments.
Whatever they’re doing, it seems to be working, and not just for our long-haired friend at the front. They’ve sold out two nights at the Albert Hall, and are then off to Ireland, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. The latest album reached number three in the album charts. Sometimes, it seems, quirky, and clever, works… and certainly seeing them live brings life to what might otherwise be perceived as a smug brilliance. Towards the end, Hyde reaches for the mic and says to Manchester “I know you hear this a lot but you are best – always were and always will be”. The guy at the front isn’t arguing with that, and nor am I.
Black Country, New Road at Albert Hall was promoted by Now Wave. Details of their forthcoming Manchester promotions can be found at Now Wave – Home
Simon is a writer, broadcaster and countercultural investigator. Over the last 15 years he has written for everyone from The Guardian to Loaded magazine, presented television for Rapture TV and hosted radio programs for the likes of Galaxy. He has also found time to earn a Masters Degree in Novel Writing and write three books (a collection of journalism, a guidebook to Ibiza and one on financial planning for young people – the most varied publishing career it’s possible to have) and establish and run a PR company, Pad Communications, looking after a range of leisure and lifestyle clients.He currently splits his time between researching his PhD at Leeds University, looking into various countercultural movements; consulting freelance for PR clients; writing for the likes of Marie Claire in Australia, The Big Issue and the Manchester Evening News, where he reviews concerts, theatre and is their Pub & Bar Editor. He is also broadcaster, appearing regularly on Tony Livesey’s late night 5Live show for the BBC, and also for BBC Radio Manchester Gourmet Night food and drink show.Simon’s main focus has been music and travel. His career has included editing Ministry of Sound’s magazine in Ibiza for two summers and also writing two long-running columns for DJmagazine – ”Around The World in 80 Clubs” (which took him everywhere from Beijing to Brazil, Moscow to Marrakech) and “Dispatches From The Wrong Side”. A collection of the latter was published in the UK and US as the book Discombobulated, including tales as varied as gatecrashing Kylie Minogue’s birthday party, getting deported from Russia, having a gun held to his head by celebrity gangster Dave Courtney and going raving in Ibiza with Judith Chalmers. He has recently written for the likes of Red magazine, Hotline, Clash, Tilllate, Shortlist and the Manchester Evening News. Pad Communications has recently consulted for clients as varied as Manchester nightclubs and New Zealand toy companies.On a personal note, Simon is a Londoner who left the capital at the age of 18 and never looked back. He sees himself as a citizen of the global dancefloor having lived in Sydney, Los Angeles, Ibiza and Amsterdam. However his life is now rather more sedentary. After all his adventures he bumped into and subsequently married his highschool sweetheart from their North London Grammar. They now live in Stockport with their four children and four chickens, trying to live the good life. Simon recently turned 40 and is steadfastly refusing to have a midlife crisis – as in, growing a ponytail and buying a shiny red sports car.OK, maybe he’ll buy the sports car…
