Crossfade Reviews: Black Country, New Road "Ants from Up There"

 by Karl W.

Black Country, New Road "Ants from Up There"
[Ninja Tune]
Post-rock/Chamber Pop/Art Rock

    Well, this is a bit awkward. I'll fully admit I took a bit long to release my Best Albums of 2021 list to the public (mostly due to a lot of real life stuff that required immediate attention), so right when I was praising the debut album of post-rock British band Black Country, New Road, I also learned of lead frontman Isaac Wood's departure just a few days prior to the release of this album. The split from the group seems to be mostly amiable matter, though Isaac seems to want to prioritize his mental health going forward, which is completely understandable. As such, this marks an interesting point in the band's progression, the final album with founding frontman Isaac Wood, leading into now uncharted territory. Still, with "For the first time" being as exceptional as it was, how did "Ants from Up There" compare?

    Let me put it like this: "Ants from Up There" is a different feeling album than "For the first time". While "For the first time" was cacophonous and raucous, showcasing what the band is truly capable of, "Ants from Up There" is more airy and more reserved, while still showcasing the band's strengths. They are different albums, to be sure, but both of which still showcase the band's strong suits...yet I think "Ants from Up There" is not only superior, but arguably one of the best rock albums of the decade. "Ants from Up There" is truly a spectacle to behold. Right from the intro song leading to the triumphant chorus of "Chaos Space Marine", you can see the band's masterful craft of melody, dynamics, crescendo in just the span of a few minutes. The use of crescendo on this album is honestly one of my favorite parts about this album, as each song, no matter how long, has a type of progression to it that makes listening to each one incredibly enjoyable to listen. The instrumentation is also something to behold. Black Country, New Road were never a stranger to their diverse instrumental palette, but the wide array of instrumental diversity, from the blaring brass on "Chaos Space Marine" to the soft strings buildup between the verses of "Haldern", is so vast that it could even make your high school band teacher blush. Special mention goes to the buildup to the saxophone on "The Place Where He Inserted the Blade" with one of the most triumphant songs of the year. It's nothing but earworms on this album to be sure.

    The centerpiece of this album, "Concorde", is the statement of this entire album, and possibly the entire band as a whole. It's a triumph of a song that showcases the complex and captivating instrumentation of the band to a T while also showcasing the relationship turbulence at the core of the  album, of the passenger on the Concorde flying high and watching the people from down below contemplating where it all went wrong. It's handily the best song that the band has ever made, and given the slew of incredible tracks on their last album, that's saying a lot.

    Yet the album still flies steady after that song, tackling the breakup and the rough relationship patch that Isaac went through. Yet, Isaac places himself on most of the blame for the relationship falling apart, as you can hear on songs like "Bread Song" or "Good Will Hunting", where he feels like a squatter in this relationship leaving bread crumbs in the bed. The pain feels real in Wood's esoteric and complex lyrics and his explosive performances. Though, there doesn't seem to be animosity on either side of the relationship as we see on "Good Will Hunting", where this woman in question tells him she's not that hard to find. The album concludes with three utterly explosive and epic songs that are triumphant and also mellow, with "Basketball Shoes" being the perfect thesis statement of the album, where the Concorde flies into his room, tearing his life to shreds, and how he's taking the strides to fix it back up again, boding rather well with his departure from the band.

    "Ants from Up Here" is an album of the year contender and we're only two months into the year. It's to the point where I'm honestly having problems finding any real flaws on this album asides from maybe one or two mixing issues that are really minor at best. As a sophomore album, it's one of the best of this century. As a send-off for Isaac Wood, it's a wonderful swan song. It's hard to say where Black Country, New Road will go from here, especially with Isaac Wood's departure, but with "Ants from Up There" at least, it showed that they can truly fly to new heights.

Best Songs: "Chaos Space Marine", "Concorde", "Bread Song", "Good Will Hunting", "Haldern", "The Place Where He Inserted the Blade", "Snow Globes", "Basketball Shoes"

Worst Song: N/A

10/10 (Phenomenal)