Last year, Black Country, New road caught my attention (along with many other people) with the release of their second album, Ants From Up There, which is a brilliant art rock with healthy doses of post-rock and chamber music that remains one of the strongest releases of 2022 in my book. Unfortunately, my discovery of the group coincided with their original front-man Issac Wood's departure from the band. While I was obviously more than pleased with the results of Ants From Up There and instantly interested in whatever the group would do next, I would be lying if I said I wasn't at least a little uncertain of what would come next for Black Country, New Road without their lead man. Well, I got my answer - recorded in December of 2022 but brought to us late last month, Live at Bush Hall does pick up where Ants left off on some level. It isn't as inventive or experimental as when Isaac was around, sure, but I would be lying if I said there wasn't a charm to a lot of the progressive/art/chamber pop rock on the album, and it's certainly in line with what I expected from the group. Even with their main guy gone, BC,NR are able to get on with this record.
Let us begin by addressing the elephant in the room when it comes to the album - who is replacing Isaac Wood? Wood was not only a significant part of the songwriting for Black Country, New Road, but his weary vocal stylings were a distinguishing factor of the BC,NR sound - he wasn't necessarily a powerful singer, but he was memorable, and there was a certain fragile quality to his voice that made it lovely to an extent. On this record, bassist Tyler Hyde takes up singing duties, and while she isn't really as distinct as Wood's voice, she's a more than capable vocalist for what the group is doing; Lewis Evans also takes up singing duties on this album, and he also does a more than fine job, although his moments definitely felt more like they were missing Isaac than Tyler's moments, although that isn't necessarily indicative of their quality. Outside of a switch of singer, this is largely what you'd expect musically from a Black Country album, with all the love of jazz and chamber music in the world cooked in. For what it's worth, it's also a great sounding live record, with everything mixed well and in its right place, and the music still carries a bit of a desire for expansiveness, even if the end results aren't nearly as exciting as some of the Ants From Up There work.
The actual disc contents is, for the most part, a lovely set of prog pop tunes that sticks relatively true to the mold established with their previous albums, even if some moments aren't exactly what one would expect. "Up Song" is a fun opener (and closer, for that matter), even with the admittedly facepalm-worthy lines of "look at what we did together / BC,NR friends forever". The adventurous "The Boy" that follows is a great piece of story-telling that may, in some ways, be more mature than the work with Isaac in spite of its flaws. "Across the Pond Friend" has a little bit of a weak vocal, but it's made up for with a pretty solid performance overall. "Laughing Song" is one of the album's most soaring moments, containing Tyler Hyde's strongest vocal performance on the album, although when we also have the grandiose 10-minutes of "Turbine/Pigs" and the brilliant "Dancers", that distinction is a little bit harder to cut. The aforementioned two tracks are amongst the album's greatest moments, which does make the second half only slightly more worthwhile than the first half - granted, this side also has "The Wrong Trousers", which is probably the least exciting thing on the album, and showcases the biggest gaps in the absence of Isaac.
Is it better than Ants From Up There? Well, it should go without saying that it isn't really, but I wasn't expecting it to be. At the end of the day Live at Bush Hall is a great little helping of progressive chamber pop through and through, not only fitting the BC,NR formula, but in some ways pushing it forward to what I imagine their next proper studio release to be like. While their excellent leader may be gone, Black Country, New Road manages to stick the landing with their usual inventiveness and, of course, with the power of friendship saving the day. Tune in next time as the journey continues!
RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯
Listen to Live at Bush Hall.
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