Black Country, New Road - "For the first time" (2021)

 

Hailing from the same scene that launched black midi into the music-nerd sphere, Black Country, New Road have been gaining a lot of hype for their debut record For the first time. I put it on for the first time a few weeks ago and I am totally on board with the praise the album has been getting. Much like black midi, the group is broadly categorised as experimental post-punk but that label doesn't really express the shear amount of genres the band seamlessly encompasses into each of the 6 tracks here. Elements of post-rock and progressive rock are effortlessly woven with jazz and jazz-rock, and the group even heavily incorporates klezmer (a type of Eastern European Jewish folk music) into the first and last tracks. It is so dense with each new moment brimming with new ideas and approaches.

At 40 minutes and only 6 tracks, each track is long and given time and space to grow and permutate into completely different forms. Everything also sounds so clear, it's not experimental in it's production techniques, allowing for the tightness of the compositions and performances to really shine. The record feels very segmented, with each song feeling very separate and compartmentalised from each other; but because the band commits to this it works. It feels like a series of 6 vignettes than one feature film. However, they all follow similar themes and concepts with frontman Isaac Wood's eclectic lyrics detailing stories about characters that are seemingly experiencing complete mental dysfunction and breakdowns. These first person perspective tracks go into such excruciating detail about minute and mundane things that it almost comes across as comic at some points. And I believe that it's intentional, these characters are losing their minds, it is supposed to sound hysterical.

The record opens with the introductory Instrumental. This track starts with a simple math rock groove before being quickly smothered by the Klezmer instrumentation of woodwind and trumpets. The track builds and builds to this super kinetic climax and breakdown. The descending melodies just make you want to move and gets the adrenaline pumping hard. Athens, France couldn't be more different. Starting of as a post-punk song, the track then shifts to film noir reminiscent jazz with a recurring James Bond-esque swell, before settling out into a serene chiming guitar led outro. It's dynamic but also quite gentle, which is in contrast Isaac's disturbed lyrics which seem to reference the demise of the group's predecessor, Nervous Condition, which disbanded due to sexual harassment claims against that group's lead singer. It comes across as almost a severe sense of shame that the band has inherited NC's members (bar the vocalist), musical style and potentially legacy. It's a complex emotion and masked under layers of subversion and diverting lines referencing speakers and Phoebe Bridgers.

The next two tracks are the most deranged on the record and the most reminiscent of their scene contemporaries, black midi. Science Fair unravels as this song that is about the protagonist's obsession with a woman that he meets in multiple situations, the titular science fair and then the Cirque du Soleil, or at least he thinks he meets her, he's that obsessed. It implies that maybe he's attacked her (or who he thinks is her) by the end of the song and runs off into the distance, but the details are murky and vague like some sort of fever dream. Musically, this is paired with a noisy and discordant combination of distorted guitars and wild horns and sax. Sunglasses, similarly tells the story of a 20-something that feels so lost and worthless that he's verging on a breakdown. Until he puts on a pair of sunglasses, in an effort to hide his vulnerability from the world. However this clearly isn't working as Isaac screams "I'm more than adequate, leave your Sertraline in the cabinet", as if he's trying to convince himself that he's okay and doesn't need the antidepressants that have been proscribed to him.

The only drawbacks the album has is that is so lyrically intense and somewhat pretentious that not every moment or lyric lands for me. The album feels like it's stuffed full of in-jokes and winks and nods to people involved with the scene, and when the band tries to go for something more relatable and straight up on Track X, it doesn't come across like they really are. The track just feels like it has dialled back on the eccentricity and insanity. However the record does end on a strong point, bringing back the Klezmer and combining it more with post-punk and experimental rock instrumentation and structures.

For the first time is certainly not a record for everyone, it's obnoxious and fairly pretentious, but it is so well composed and performed with really unique song structures and topics that never gets old. It has so many twists and turns and is nothing but exhilarating.

Top Tracks: Instrumental, Athens, France, Science Fair, Sunglasses, Opus

8/10

Wolf Alice - "Blue Weekend" (2021)

I have been eagerly anticipating Wolf Alice's return after 2017's Visions Of A Life, the group's second record and one that has grown into one of my all time favourites over the past 4 years. That album was such an expressive and expansive development from their debut, shaking off the more derivative aspects of their sound to create this perfect storm of chaotic noise rock and shoegaze. Blue Weekend follows VOAL by going in a slightly different direction. Enlisting the help of producer Markus Dravs (known for producing the biggest stadium sized rock albums from Coldplay, Florence And The Machine and Arcade Fire), and brimming in confidence from VOAL's Mercury Prize win, the band have crafted their biggest, most epic sounding record so far; yet also their softest and most accessible.

Blue Weekend leans much more on the dream pop side of the dreampop-shoegaze spectrum, with the record achieving the bands trademark hazy atmosphere more with waves of woozy, washed out synths rather than noisy, fuzzed out guitars and layers of feedback. There are still heavier moments on this album, but they're a lot less frequent than on the first two records. Not that it's a bad thing, though, as the song writing is as good (if not better) than it always has been. The lyrics are more direct this time around, focusing on the same sorts of themes of breakups, feeling out of place and lost that the band always has; but in more structured narrative that results in the record feeling like the most focused and cohesive of the three. The more consistent softer sound and shorter runtime also contribute to this feeling.

The record kicks off with the intro track, the short and building The Beach. This song is like a mission statement for the entire album, with Ellie Rowsell declaring that she's 'sick of circling the drain', hungover every weekend and that she doesn't want to battle and fight with someone (and old friend or partner who are no longer seeing eye to eye) anymore. The track linearly builds through lusher and lusher layers of synths and reverb and just sets the tone and frame of mind for the record so well. This is followed by the slow and loose Delicious Things, with the off kilter drums and smooshy psychedelic guitar tones creating this woozy, sort of drunken feel to the song. Rowsell sings in this hushed, staccato way about feeling like she's made it being a rockstar in Hollywood but also feeling lost and vulnerable to the kind of temptations and exploitative people that are part of the LA music and movie culture. The song has a real sense of honesty and balance to it, and really conveys Ellie's mixed, confused emotions without ever coming across like she's lost her agency.

The next track, Lipstick On The Glass, furthers the intricate emotional writing, being a breakup song that details the complexity and layers of grey instead of painting a simplified picture. Ellie sings about a fracturing relationship where it seems she has been cheated on by her partner, but is brutally honest about knowing she would take them back despite the unfaithfulness; yet it's not a song about forgiveness. It sits between the lines of anger and longing in a way that I don't see all that often. Musically, the song feels like it draws influence from a couple of places that the band hasn't really shown before. The strummed acoustic guitar and the flourishes of electric guitar licks that are the basis of the verses are very reminiscent of Jeff Buckley, especially with Ellie singing the entire of the verses in a super high, soulful falsetto that reminds me of his singing style. The track shifts to layered arpeggiated guitars in the chorus and bridge that feel more like Radiohead's In Rainbows. It's an entertaining meeting of these styles that are once again layered up and mushed together with tonnes of multitracked vocals that makes the track sound massive. If Delicious Things feels a bit drunk, Lipstick On The Glass is the point where you're getting quite drunk and the lights and sounds around you start to merge together and you know you should probably stop soon.

Smile is the first of two heavier, more traditionally rock songs on the record. It's a piece of poppy post-grunge that's reminiscent of the heavier moments on the first record, with chugging drums and bass, buzzing lead guitar and soaring, anthemic vocals from Ellie. The lyrics of the song feel much like clean summary of the themes of the record thus far, with Ellie telling us who she is as a person and why she can't just be put in a box as an 'raging rock frontwoman' or 'hysterical lonely girl' ect. The writing doesn't feel quite as personal as the first few tracks, but it doesn't have to be; it is one of the singles after all. And the relatability of the track really do give it legs in that respect. The second of the two is called All The Greatest Hits, and is the shortest song on the record. The track starts as a blistering riot grrl punk track about those obnoxious afterparties that we've all been to, where the music is too loud and the people are off their faces. But at the 50 second mark, the song flips on its head to become perhaps the most viscerally heavy track the band has created so far. Ellie screams at the top of her lungs, "IS IT LOUD ENOUGH??!!" against the backdrop of wailing feedbacked guitars, sirening synths and staccato strings that flood every corner of the mix. It's unbelievably chaotic and intense.

As tracks 4 and 7, these songs break the album into three legs separated by these heavier moments. The middle part of the record in between these two songs are Safe From Heartbreak (if you never fall in love) and How Can I Make It Ok?. Safe From Heartbreak (if you never fall in love) is an acoustic, fingerplucked folk tune with the earnest and relatable topic of not letting yourself fall in love to stop yourself getting hurt. While it has grown on me significantly due to the emotionally raw lyrics and Ellie's expressive cadence and delivery of them, I do feel like it is the weakest track on the record primarily due to the excessive multitracked vocals and the recurring refrain of the title running a tad repetitive. I feel like a more intimate approach to the vocals would've fit the tracks overall vibe and aesthetic much more. How Can I Make It OK? is something the band has never really attempted before, an 80's new wave / synth pop meets dream pop cut which is so damn catchy. The reverb gated drums, airy synths and snappy vocal melodies just stick in my head effortlessly. The track slowly introduces new elements then layers them up to the point where they're all just bouncing off each other.

The final leg of the record similarly progresses through several unique styles through the filter of band's dreamy production, although this part of the record feels the most grand and cinematic. Kicking off the back end is Feeling Myself, a track with a simple premise, men are shit lovers and Ellie feels she can do a better job herself. But the track is presented in a dramatic linear fashion with lush synth and string swells that make it seem like the accompaniment to the final scene of a movie. While I do really respect the song, I have found that I haven't been connecting with it like the other tracks, but I'm not exactly the target audience so that's understandable. I can totally see it being the album highlight for a lot of people. Following this is the soaring, anthemic piano ballad and lead single, Last Man On Earth. It's a song about feeling alone and out of place, even when perhaps you feel like you should be happy and you're not quite sure why you're not. It's a theme the band has nailed consistently in the past and once again deliver. It slowly drags itself from a place of insecurity and isolation to confidence and self-satisfaction. It make's the miniscule feel important and could cheer anyone up if they're feeling this way.

The record finishes up on it's most sentimental and sweetest moments, being No Hard Feelings and The Beach II. No Hard Feelings comes back to the acoustic folk vibes of Safe From Heartbreak, but is much more intimately and simply produced, which lends to the honesty of the song which provides a sense of conclusion to the albums romantic and breakup themes. Its a song about moving on without any lingering resentment to pastures new. The guitar tones on the track are just so perfect, it feels like you're just sat in room with Ellie and an acoustic. The Beach II similarly provides conclusion to the themes of longing and soul-searching, as Ellie accounts watching the sun rise at the beach with her friends, and is reminded that that is all she needs, friends and a plastic cup fill with wine. The low end of the mix is dominated with feedback drenched guitars that sound like an aeroplane taking off, with the chiming lead guitar and Ellie's vocals on top sounding at peace with her self.

Blue Weekend is as fantastic record, and also unique within the band's catalogue. Instead of just repeating what worked so well on VOAL, the band has tried a lot of new things that have for the most part paid off. They've kept true to themselves, and the bands identity and strengths and produced another record I'm gonna have on for years. I think I do still just about prefer the rougher, more chaotic nature of of Visions Of A Life, but Blue Weekend is only a slither behind it in all honesty.

Top Tracks: The Beach, Delicious Things, Lipstick On The Glass, Smile, How Can I Make It OK?, All The Greatest Hits, Last Man On Earth, No Hard Feelings, The Beach II

9/10