Black Country, New Road Share New Single "Happy Birthday"

New single "Happy Birthday" arrives alongside a stop-motion video, with intimate UK shows announced ahead of a full 2025 tour.

Black Country, New Road have shared "Happy Birthday," the latest single from their newly announced album Forever Howlong, out April 4th via Ninja Tune. The band has also revealed a series of intimate UK live dates in April 2025, where they will perform the album in full ahead of their larger US, EU, and UK tour later in the year.

Forever Howlong marks the group's first studio album since 2022's Ants From Up There, which reached #3 in the UK charts and followed their Mercury Prize-nominated debut For the first time. Their third studio record continues their evolution, featuring songwriting and vocal contributions from Tyler Hyde, Georgia Ellery, and May Kershaw. Produced by James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, Fontaines D.C.), the album was introduced with the sprawling opener "Besties," met with widespread acclaim.

"Happy Birthday" builds on the band's dynamic reinvention, with Hyde explaining its interwoven relationship with "Besties": “When I wrote ‘Happy Birthday,’ I had Georgia’s song ‘Besties’ in my head. The structure of it is heavily influenced by it.” The song's gradual build, from delicate piano and guitar to a euphoric crescendo, reflects the band's continued sonic expansion.

Accompanying the single is a stop-motion animated video directed by Lesley-Anne Rose, known for her work with Channel 4, the BFI, and artists like Richard Dawson. The animation follows two birds navigating a forest as they attempt to escape hunters.

Forever Howlong will be available in various formats, including a standard 2LP, a signed white-label edition, an indie-exclusive version, and a collector's edition with an alternate tracklisting.

Pre-order Forever Howlong here.