The band from Cambridge became one of the most sought out bands in U.K. music last year, with so many wondering how a Black Country, New Road album would be like. The long singles and jamming like experience at their live shows have sent fans wild, going crazy in the midst of the post-punk meets jazzy journeys this band sends us on.
With ‘For The First Time’ being only 6 songs but still finishing past 40 minutes, you are left amazed and impressed with how they captivate the listener with some left field decisions.
The opening piece sets the record straight with the albums jamming ambitions on ‘Instrumental’. The percussion section is fascinating, with the guitars and horn section delivering catchy hooks throughout. The techno synth playing stands out, leaving a tone of tension in your mind, alongside a jazz like drumming part when the song settles into its groove. Somehow this song creates such a tone of anticipation, feeling like a possible intro to a classic Michael Caine, film from back in the day.
The new lyrics delivered on the rerecorded version of, ‘Athens, France’, work just as well over the slow burning instrumental. The way Black Country, New Road capture the mood of the Gen Z experience with the sense of disaster, while gleaming with hope, is done so well and is very apparent on this redone fan favourite. The song really becomes something very impressive in its last quarter mind you, offering some separating instrumentation that pierces you with the mood of this LP.
Then with, ‘Science Fair’, we have a rather funny and charming song, in the oddest of ways. Commenting on the experiences the Cambridge-born guys had with Science and Engineering Fairs growing up in their hometown, you wonder how will this narrative go down with the listener.
Well, when using the experiences of other fairs and circuses such as Cirque du Soleil to dramatise the situation, the lyrics of ‘It was at the Cambridge Science Fair and she was so impressed,I could make so many things catch on fire’, do create an amusing tone.
The strings within the song deliver a sense of dramatic wonder that is found in the lead up to a performance at the circus, while the synths create a Steam Punk atmosphere of exploration in an industrial, mechanical kind of way. It’s a bizarre concept that may not engage with many but the way the band deliver this song, is truly outstanding.
‘Sunglasses’ is 9 minutes and deciding on that it is too much or genius, I think can be decided on an individual basis. This single is looking at at the narrator standing in his girlfriends fancy kitchen, thinking/pondering about having a naff future together, the concept is something oddly relatable.
Lyrics within the song are definitely captivating at times with the ora of optimism within mundane wishes; for instance the line ‘I become her father and complain of mediocre theatre in the daytime’ stands out and captures the intentions of the songs narrative well. The production is flawless, the blend of post punk and horns is blandly stunning, if it is such a way to describe anything.
There is a snobbish outlook here. The privilege of dreaming such a mundane existence in a working relationship is a bit of a privileged situation but does singer Issac Wood come across as a dick, not really? As the song progresses, we hear the singer becoming paranoid, commenting on the defence mechanisms when experiencing parts of existence that you look down on, leaving you to become narcissistic and petty.
For this song, it’s the chavs and roadmen that are getting this character all bothered; again this does not come across as being a tosser as much as it should. Maybe the Kayne reference makes it all millennial-sincere?
credit: MATHEW PARRI THOMAS
The shortest song on ‘For The First Time’ is ‘Track X’ and I would say this could be the song to show people but we all have the time for a 10 minute song now? The soulful approach here gives this LP a great extra sound to it, showing a sense of fragility the band has deep within themselves. You feel Black Country want to show they have an assured take on everything they do, however this song has a chorus and climax of ‘I guess/In some way…’ and that simple moment goes along amongst the detailed lyricism.
The conclusion of this fascinating debut is ‘Opus’, a song written with the feeling of the being able to play together again after one of the lockdowns the U.K. has faced. The diction of everyones playing on the track is turned to the max; the atmosphere of angst is cool and very much needed for anyone who needs to let out energy that has built up, over the last year or so.
This song feels alive, the way it breathes in out with its softer phases and action packed jamming moments, it radiates like a spectacle. It feels a fitting conclusion to a record that is not the most conventional yet still the most captivating around. ‘For The First Time’ is a triumph debut by a band could go anywhere and there is a lot of people who want to follow.
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