Reborn UK art rock band Black Country, New Road comes to Korea

British art rock band Black Country, New Road / Courtesy of Holly Whitaker

The story of British art rock band Black Country, New Road (BCNR) is an unusual one. Few bands survive the departure of their lead singer. Even fewer bands decide to abandon their entire discography mid-tour.

But BCNR is not like other bands.

In its five years, the Cambridgeshire six-piece (who grew up a full 150 kilometer from the U.K.'s Black Country) has become one of the most critically celebrated new bands in the world. They came to prominence in 2021 with their debut album, "For The First Time," for which the band received a nomination for the Mercury Music Prize. The six-song release was lauded for its dense instrumentation, raw energy and funny/angry lyrics.

BCNR drummer Charlie Wayne told The Korea Times that the album's almost confrontational tone was a natural part of starting out.

"When you're writing music at the start," he explained, "and you kind of haven't gotten a fanbase or anything, it's kind of more fun to make music that's a bit scary and a bit weird. I think that people will latch onto music that is just a bit nuts. We were listening to lots of Touch and Go Records stuff as well as things like Slint and Don Caballero, and I think that shows."

Since then, the band has maintained the same musicality as that first album but gone on to explore more diverse styles. The subsequent music is often softer, melodic and more reflective when compared to the first release.

"We went through a stage," explained Charlie, when looking back at the debut album, "of saying that it was something we didn't really care for. Which I guess is something you have to kind of get through to put some space between you and what you're currently doing. But I love it for what it is."

The following year, the band released "Ants From Up There," and things really started taking off. Critics were lining up to heap praise on the album, with NME going as far as to call it a "future cult classic."

For Charlie, the process of making "Ants" stands out as one of the highlights of the band's time together.

"Writing and recording 'Ants From Up There' was amazing," he said. "We were shut away on the Isle of Wight for like three weeks to make an album. This was the first stuff we ever wrote where the focus wasn't on performing live but what we could do in the studio. That made it really special."

With a critical and commercial success on their hands and, crucially, COVID-19 restrictions lifted, BCNR seemed prime to take over the indie rock world. One day though, everything changed when lead singer Isaac Woods quit the band, citing mental health struggles.

Charlie says there was never any doubt about continuing to play together in some form but that this wasn't their immediate concern.

"Isaac's well-being came first," he said. "Then we kind of got together and thought about what we could potentially do and whether or not we'd play together. We quickly decided that we'd continue but were not sure about what form that would take. Would we start a new band or continue as we are? We had some shows booked and decided that the best thing to do would be to carry on as Black Country, New Road."

One interesting decision that BCNR made was to abandon all their previous music, which meant turning away from the songs that had seen them become one of the most hyped bands of the year. To this day, they have not returned to their early work and insist that they never will. You might think a risk like this could cause problems for the group, but they say that people have generally been understanding.

"I think you'd be surprised how little we get a negative response," Charlie said. "I could probably count on one hand how many times it has happened. Playing a festival is always a bit weird, though, because the people there aren't our, like, hardcore fans, and they expect to hear the most well-known songs, and that's completely fair."

While dropping their early music was the natural move for them, it was undeniably a big risk and one that came with a certain amount of apprehension.

"It was a bit scary, yeah," Charlie admitted. "What if we tell people we're not playing the old songs, and the phone just stops ringing? We kind of went out on a limb with it. Luckily, our fanbase is quite malleable and chronically online. Most had read the stories about Isaac leaving and were pretty understanding. We're so grateful for that and really appreciate that they have stood with us because it really could have gone the other way."

So with this decision made, the band had no choice but to write a bunch of new material, and fast. This led to the recording of "Live at Bush Hall" — a live album and film that features entirely new material.

"That was a challenge for us, for sure," Charlie said. "But we needed songs if we were going to continue."

"Live at Bush Hall" sees BCNR continue to explore the brighter and more accessible sounds of "Ants." According to Charlie, though, the writing process for the third album closely resembles that of their debut.

"Obviously, 'Live at Bush Hall' and 'For The First Time' occupy completely different sound worlds," he explained, "but both were written for the specific goal of playing live. It was less about creating something cohesive and more about aiming for a certain kind of energy."

Playing live is clearly important to BCNR. When asked for their performing highlights, Charlie pointed to two occasions: "Glastonbury was nuts. As a musician, you always want to play Glastonbury; it's a goal for a lot of people. Then we did, and it was absolutely wild."

The other performance that stands out was at Fuji Rock in Japan.

"We played there in 2022, which was right when we started playing live again after the pandemic. Our friends in Fontaines D.C. were due to play at Fuji Rock but had to pull out fairly late," Charlie said. "We were offered to fill in, and we were ecstatic, partly because this was the first show we'd be playing with our new material! The show itself was mental, and it represents an amazing moment for me. Here I was, further away from home than I had ever been in my life, playing to a crowd 10 times the size of anything we'd seen before, and they were going absolutely wild."

Despite having played in Asia, this will be the group's first time in Korea. Playing here has been on their wishlist for a while, though, in part thanks to their relationship with fellow British indie band Black Midi (with whom BCNR regularly collaborates under the name Black Midi, New Road).

"Black Midi told us that Korean audiences have an amazing energy," Charlie said. "They really go for it here, according to them, so we knew we wanted to come here."

What can fans expect from the sold-out show in Seoul on Feb. 21?

"We've written a bunch of new stuff," Charlie said. "To be honest, we'd been touring the 'Live at Bush Hall' material for a year and a half, and it was starting to get a bit samey. We're really excited to playing something different and glad that the Seoul fans can be part of that."

Visit blackcountrynewroad.bandcamp.com to listen or highjinkx.com/bcnr for more information about the show.

Jamie Finn is chief editor of Platform Magazine.