Black Country, New Road - Ants From Up There [Post-Rock]

[u/ElectricPhoton]

link to all my other reviews in bio :)

Ants From Up There

Black Country, New Road (2022)

We’ve all met those people. You know who I’m talking about. They won’t shut up about their opinions, and are so fast to criticize anything you say. Of course, I’m talking about the “good music isn’t made anymore” people. Alright fine, I used to be one of those people. Back when I only listened to 80s classic rock or something. Eventually my taste evolved to nineties alternative rock and grunge, which led me to discover Radiohead. After a decently long time of basically exclusively listening to Radiohead, I finally started branching out into post-rock, shoegaze, and more indie genres. The point is, I’m a changed man! Or something like that. This album, Ants From Up There by Black Country, New Road, is living proof that there is still great music being made. Some of my other favorite albums in the 2020s include Magdalena Bay’s Imaginal Disk, Geordie Greep’s The New Sound, and To See the Next Part of the Dream by Parannoul.

Only four days before the release of Ants From Up There in 2022, we received the heartbreaking news that Isaac Wood, the long time singer for Black Country, New Road, had separated from the band. Wood had been experiencing major mental health issues before and during the recording of the album, leading him to leave for personal reasons. As serious and awful mental health struggles are, Wood’s emotive vocals are definitely one of the defining factors on the album. Tracks like “The Place Where He Inserted the Blade,” “Concorde,” and “Basketball Shoes” would not be the same without his voice. In fact, after Wood announced his departure, Black Country, New Road cancelled their planned tour, retiring all the music from when Wood was still with the band. While they still remain active, releasing Forever Howlong in 2025, it’s firmly a new era for them than it was four years ago.

Commonly cited as a post-rock album, I think Ants From Up There is truly transcendent of any genre label. Its unique cast of instruments, including pianos, saxophones, violins, and flutes in addition to the regular guitars, basses and drums make it one of the most unique sounding records out there. If I had to describe its sound, It’d be an alternative album combining elements of post-rock, jazz, classical, all within an accessible sound. It’s remarkable how creative they are while keeping the core emotions and melodies intact.

As always, that starts with the opening track. Usually there are two ways to go about an opener, put a strong track first (Vespertine, Souvlaki, Kid A, etc.), or put a strong track second, with an introduction, making it even better (Animals, Twin Fantasy, Ágætis Byrjun, etc.). Ants From Up There goes with the second option, keeping their opener simple with “Intro.” “Intro” is a repeating melody on a saxophone as other instruments are slowly added. It’s a great teaser as to what the listener should expect listening to the album, and it perfectly sets the scene for what’s to come.

The first full-length song, “Chaos Space Marine” features a flamboyant motif to start, as it mellows down to the first verse, a staccato piano taking the role of the rhythm section. This allows a ton of room for the song to transition into its robust chorus, with the lyrics

“So I’m leaving this body
And I’m never coming home again
I’ll bury the axe here
Between the window and the kingdom of men”

Wood sings about the desire to start again, leaving behind all he knows in search of a new direction in life. It’s a big climax, coming from a verse that was laid back and tense, a coil ready to spring into action. The next verse begins the same, with similar instrumentation and lyrics. However, it’s now interrupted by the same motif as we heard in the beginning of the track. The place we started, before we left home. As the “home” motif plays more and more, it breaks into a half-time feel, the same melody played again at half speed. We realize that our little endeavor is a short-lived, but valuable, lesson. We got to see some of the world, but that’s enough. It’s time to come back home again.

“I’m coming home
Billie Eilish style
A Concorde will fly
Ignore the hole I’ve dug again”

As we can tell from the previous song, instrumentation is the name of the game. The song worked so well not only because of the songwriting, but because of how well each instrument was able to interact with every other instrument. It’s no different in “Concorde,” a somber, yet hopeful song about the steady decline of life.

“By the morning, I’d fell to my feet
And the doctor said, ‘We are unfortunately running out of options to treat’
What a funny way to speak”

It’s a sad thought, to know that your health is slowly declining, and you can’t do anything about it. It’s a feeling that most people will experience someday, yet nobody can begin to imagine what it would feel like until it happens to them. Wood speaks about the desire to spend the rest of time with whoever the song is addressed to. You feel fine now, but you know that won’t last long.

“And you, like Concorde
I came, a gentle hill racer
I was breathless
Upon every mountain
Just to look for your light

But for less than a moment
We’d share the same sky
And then Isaac will suffer
Concorde will fly”

Truly heartbreaking. There’s still so much of the song left, so much lyricism and instrumentation to go through, but… I can’t. It’s a song that’s best not put into words. Listen to it, you’ll understand the meaning. You don’t need my help. What I can do is speak on the instrumentation of this song, and really the entire record. I’ve said this before, but it’s just so… unique. The combination of saxophones and strings isn’t really something you’d think would sound so good until you hear this album. They don’t overdo it either, they give a perfect amount of instrumentation, often climaxing without lyrics to highlight the layered instruments. I know I’ll be taking notes on this album when I inevitably start writing music. I’ll be sure to cite Isaac as one of my key influences.

“Bread Song” is a heartbreaking (I’ve said that too much already), quiet tune. It’s composed, at first, of a fingerpicked electric guitar and Isaac’s vocals. They’re soon accompanied by a high violin. But the real focus is the lyricism here.

“Okay, well I just woke up
And you already don’t care
That I tried my best to hold you
Through the headset that you wear
And as tight as I might hold it
Over where the signals good
There’s no way to save your evening now
Through the little phone that could”

It’s a song about vulnerabilities in a relationship. While the lyrics might not seem so at first, the lyrics combined with the delivery of them does. It’s a quiet, intimate and sweet melody over a bittersweet chord progression. The lyrics, in the whole song, speak about the small compromises that are necessary to keep a relationship going. Neither of you are going to get it perfectly your way, and you just have to live with that. Learning to compromise is part of growing up.

Soon, even more instruments are added in the form of a soft tenor saxophone, light piano, and extremely subtle percussion. All of the elements are really soft on their own, but crescendo in unison to create huge and noticeable arcs and cadences. About halfway through the song, a rim-click rhythm is added on the snare drum. Combined with a bass, it creates a sudden rhythm that the song didn’t have at the start. As the song continues progressing, it slowly re-adds the elements that fell out previously. A violin, an acoustic guitar, the saxophone, and the piano. It feels like it should all break, break into a new, full section. But it doesn’t. The epic moment never comes. The compromises are just made, sometimes to a little annoyance. But you realize that, compared to a single moment alone with someone, those little moments don’t matter at all.

“I never felt the crumbs until you said
‘This place is not for any man,
Nor particles of bread’”

“Good Will Hunting” starts with an odd sound. It’s a synth of some sort, one whose pitch ascends, creating a claustrophobic and uncomfortable sound. Thankfully, it’s gone soon enough, replaced with a familiar guitar and vocal combination not far from the start of “Bread Song.” It’s really hard to make out, but you can hear a tiny xylophone all the way in the back. It doesn’t matter much, but it’s nice. This is the first song where Isaac’s vocals are accompanied by a female vocalist, Georgia Ellery, who usually plays violin. It’s also the song that brings back the phrase “Billie Eilish style,” which we heard in “Chaos Space Marine.”

Harmonically, this song works way better than it should. It’s all in the instrumentation, and Wood’s goddamn vocals. His expression is so genuine because it’s what he was going through at the time. He doesn’t need to manufacture emotion because he lets it all out in his music. The song speaks about a breakup. It feels different from most other breakup songs, in that it’s a falling-out, not an explosion of a breakup. There’s no point where it’s ‘official,’ it just happens. People move, they try to do long distance. They stop contacting each other. They don’t have anything against one another, they just grew apart. It’s not abnormal.

I’m a sucker for an emotional piano part. That said, “Haldern” tickles my brain. Its intro is so beautiful. Isaac’s low, yet so emotional vocals, a twinkling piano, and soft guitar chords. This is what I listen to music for. Okay, there are a lot of things I listen to music for, but this is one of them, so shut up. Again, the instrumental breaks are what gives the song identity. The tenor just gives so much contrast in the song, and combine that with an unparalleled harmonic instrument in the violin, you get some of the strongest soundscapes out there. The high arpeggios played by the piano are such a nice touch. Why take the guitar’s place when you can complement the guitar perfectly? The song ends in an instrumental, a pattern that slowly rises to the highest register, until it plays high notes across all the instruments, ending the song on a suspenseful chord.

“Ignore the hole I’ve dug again
It’s only for the evening
I never wanted you to see that much
Of the bodies down there beneath me
You are the only one I’ve known
Who broke the world so quietly
And turned your perfect hands to me
And you ruptured every bone”

The last song I want to talk about is my favorite on the album. “The Place Where He Inserted the Blade.” It’s unparalleled in its emotive power. Truly. I don’t think I’ve found a song that moves me like it did. 

The ballad starts with a piano intro. It’s a gorgeous legato melody that seamlessly transitions, giving the guitars and flute a ground to stand on. The melodies played by the flute are so simple, but they work. Once again, the spotlight is on the vocals. As the percussion is added, the song transitions from a smooth legato feel, to a staccato, catchier melody. It’s here where he delivers some of the best lyrics out there.

“And I know
You’re scared
I’m scared too
But every time I try to make lunch
For anyone else in my head,
I end up dreaming of you
And you come to me”

It’s hard to move on from someone. Wood remembers the intimate times, before everything went off course. It’s still painful to grow apart from someone. It’s a different pain than a sudden breakup, but it hurts nonetheless. If anything, it’s worse. You always think of what could happen, should you see them one more time. But that time never comes.

“Good morning
Show me the place where he inserted the blade
Oh praise the Lord
Burn my house
I get lost
I freak out
You come home and hold me tight
As if it never happened at all”

I can’t seem to stop talking about this instrumentation. It’s really a band kid’s heaven. They use instruments I’m plenty familiar with in a concert setting. They use them in a song structure I’m plenty familiar with, but it’s completely different. That’s where they get the post-rock title. They use instruments for a completely different purpose. That’s called innovation. 

I didn’t describe this song at all, really. I just talked about some of the lyrics. Just listen to it, you’ll figure it out.

You probably noticed there are still two songs left. Two long songs. And yeah, I probably should talk about them. But after “The Place Where He Inserted the Blade,” I feel like I’ve said everything I want to say. Perhaps the reason I started reviewing music in the first place was to find music that leaves me truly speechless. That’s what this album does to me. Its combination of instrumentation, its genre-defying style and its heavy emotions are what makes it one of my all-time favorites. You’ll see how that goes into my scores.

1. Intro: 78/100
2. Chaos Space Marine: 89/100
3. Concorde: 93/100
4. Bread Song: 84/100
5. Good Will Hunting: 90/100
6. Haldern: 87/100
7. Mark’s Theme: 80/100
8. The Place Where He Inserted the Blade: 96/100
9. Snow Globes: 90/100

10. Basketball Shoes: 97/100

    Overall: 96/100

[u/Cautious-River3675]

man i remember when this album dropped, everyone was talking about the plastic bag with the plane and now i cant unsee it every time i listen. basketball shoes at 97 is correct