sax-infused post-punk / post-rock rock'n roll !!!
Limited vinyl, white paper inner sleeve + 16 page lyric booklet + sticker. Download code included.
For many bands two songs is not a lot to go on. It’s a jumping off point or
a sketch of what’s to come - it’s the primitive construction of a group's
artistic foundations. Yet Black Country, New Road propelled themselves
far and wide from their first two offerings to the world via 2019’s
‘Athens, France’ and ‘Sunglasses’.
What followed was being declared “the best band in the world” by The
Quietus, glowing reviews from The New York Times to The Guardian,
landing on the front cover of Loud & Quiet, a live BBC 6 Music session,
selling out shows across the country including 3 shows totalling 1700
tickets in London, being invited to festivals in far flung places such as
Slovenia and Lithuania, scheduled on prestigious festivals such as
Eurosonic, Primavera and Glastonbury, finding themselves on French TV
sandwiched between Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon and Radiohead’s Ed
O’Brien.
Their live performances gaining legendary status among fans of
the emerging scene that coalesced around vaunted south London venue
The Windmill, and which gave rise to many of their peers and
contemporaries such as Fat White Family, black midi and Squid, artists
with whom they have variously supported, toured with and collaborated
with over the years.
However, despite the band coming out seemingly fully formed and
bristling with a wiry tension that merged post-rock soundscapes with
jazz-inflected post-punk, their debut album manages to straddle a
perfect line between this early period incarnation and their ever
burgeoning evolution. “We've matured a lot since we recorded those
two tracks,” says saxophonist Lewis Evans, who makes up the band along
with May Kershaw (keys), Charlie Wayne (drums), Luke Mark (guitar),
Isaac Wood (vocals/guitar), Tyler Hyde (bass) and Georgia Ellery (violin).
All tracks were recorded live over a six-day period in March with
producer Andy Savours. The resulting album is one that reflects where
the band were as a unit after a year of heavy touring. This was a place
where deft, free-flowing and intuitive playing melded with tightly coiled
eruptive moments. The new version of ‘Sunglasses’ begins with buzzing
and crackling guitars unfurling in almost drone-like churns, whilst
‘Athens, France’ employs space thoughtfully, unravelling as a looser
groove. “We wanted it to sound exactly how we love to sound live,” says
Evans. This balance between tension and release, along with opening up
more moments for pause and reflection, can be felt throughout.
