Black Country, New Road - For the First Time Review
In only six tracks, we are given 40 minutes of innovative, unique and complex sounds, cementing this as a record that music nerds will be talking about for a long time.
While For the first time is Black Country, New Road’s debut album, it feels like they are already deep into their career: they have an increasingly dedicated and impassioned following over the past two years through their infamous live shows, often centring around the Brixton Windmill – the venue where they were really able to blossom for the first time. Forming as Black Country, New Road in 2018, following the breakup of Nervous Conditions, they have created a signature post-rock sound which has had them often compared to iconic bands such as Slint and Radiohead, comparisons which have added to the buzz already present around this band. As such, For the first time has been one of the most highly anticipated releases for 2021 from any alternative or underground music scene and it does not disappoint. In only six tracks, we are given 40 minutes of innovative, unique and complex sounds, cementing this as a record that music nerds will be talking about for a long time.
The manic avant-garde jazz of the opener, “Instrumental”, shows us the benefits of being a seven-piece group, as all the layers from the leading saxophone to the frenzied drumming to the dancing piano arpeggio contribute to the atmospheric cacophony of this track. While Black Country, New Road have been framed as being a post-punk band, “Instrumental” also shows us their breadth in how they are able to bring a track so removed from that label into their catalogue without it sticking out as a departure from their sound. One of only two tracks entirely unreleased before this album, it really succeeds in filling the expectations placed on it and the closer, “Opus”, to ensure that it was still an exciting release despite the lack of much new material.
The band’s sound, however, has been one which has created a fair bit of controversy: lauded by Quietus as the best band in the world but dismissed by one RateYourMusic review as “embarrassing artless twaddle”. And they’re aware of the controversy of their sound – as lead singer Isaac Wood put it: “20% really like it, 50% don’t give a shit and 30% absolutely hate it”. The controversy in this album stretches into that 20% though, down to the lyric and production changes of their first two singles, “Athens, France” and “Sunglasses”, for their album versions. For the former, the change in lyrics is particularly marked, and in their classic self-referential style, the new lyrics note this: “And write the words I’ll one day wish that I had never said”. The original version of this song seems to depict a sexual assault and it is clear that, for whatever reason, they no longer feel comfortable talking about the message there. I feel this shows a good level of artistic maturity in recognising this and making those changes. However, the new lyrics at times feel a little lazy, with some downright cringey, jarring lines in there and a lack of real narrative – it ends up a little scattergun, lacking much real focus.
The changes made to “Sunglasses”, however, are quite different. Only a couple lines are tweaked, but it is more in the production and delivery where we see the most marked edits. The original version of this song seems to take a slightly angrier tone, with the narrator responding to the snobbishness of his girlfriend’s father and noticing himself becoming like that too in the first leg. The second leg I find harder to interpret but to me it seems that, possibly as a result of the ignorance he has built up living with this family, he has developed an outward arrogance whereby it looks like he feels invincible. As such, we find him comparing himself to Fonz from Happy Days, and suggesting that he would be untouchable in traffic, but really on the inside he is scared. On the album version, while building on the same themes, Wood seems a lot sadder, and possibly wanting to connect more to the fear and fragility alluded to in the lyrics. One other subtle change made to this track is the transition into its second half, which is done in a much smoother, more satisfying way on this album version. In terms of sound, this track, alongside “Science Fair”, is a strong part of the post-punk label perhaps a little hastily thrown at this band, with punk-like social commentary accompanied by some angular guitars on the second half.
“Science Fair” was the first track to be released as it appears on the album, and is the most sonically deranged track here too, opening with abrasive guitars, and culminating with the foreboding and slightly deranged scream of “It’s Black Country out there!”. The instrumentals throughout create a tense atmosphere for the duration leading up to that point, after which a saxophone squeals over a wall of noise in the climax to the song.
The other single released in the run-up to this album was “Track X”, which is the closest to “pretty” that the band ever gets here, as it slows the pace down, for the most part recounting nostalgically events from a past relationship but closing with an anecdote of a time he considered suicide. This song also highlights the cleaner, sweeter production on this album, compared to their previous single releases, particularly with the background vocals from violinist Georgia Ellery during the chorus, surrounded by almost glittery synths. However, it isn’t exactly a huge departure from their sound: the way the instruments all seem to do their own thing while somehow working together throughout keeps it far from conventional.
The closer, “Opus”, is an eight-minute epic of several phases and some interesting influences, such as Klezmer music. Dipping into different time signatures and vastly different tempos, it shows us up front the talent of each member as a musician. From around the five-minute mark, it builds up towards a very satisfying crescendo, as the narrator laments not yet being on the come up that his friends are on, before releasing into a calmer violin section to end the track and the album.
Dissonant, raw, but at times oddly beautiful, For the first time has been creating a lot of noise, to no huge surprise considering the cult following they had already built, and the splash made by their contemporaries Black Midi with their debut album in 2019. Despite division over some of the decisions made in terms of production and lyrics in their fanbase, and accusations of pretentiousness by their critics, Black Country, New Road have produced a really impressive and ambitious debut album here. With talk already of a follow-up, I am intrigued to see where they take their sound in the future and how they might expand on the wide-reaching range of influences already on show.
