SINGAPORE—The Black Country, New Road recently uploaded a new live film on YouTube, featuring all-new material from their three consecutively sold-out shows at Bush Hall in December 2022. The release arrives with the band’s 2023 live performance dates across the world, which will include shows and festivals throughout Asia this March.
The gigs at Bush Hall marked a new beginning for the band. In early 2022, Black Country, New Road released their UK #3 album Ants From Up There (their second Top 5 UK album debut in 12 months, following their Mercury Prize shortlisted debut “For the first time”), which was lauded by fans and critics alike, gaining numerous 5-star reviews and appearing on multiple end of year lists across the globe, including a number of tastemakers in Southeast Asia like Whiteboard Journal (Indonesia), The Jakarta Post, Clockenflap (Hong Kong) and more. All of this despite the album being released just days after frontman Isaac Wood announced his decision to step away from the band.
Fresh from the success of Ants From Up There and with a full touring schedule ahead of them in 2023, remaining members Lewis Evans, May Kershaw, Georgia Ellery, Luke Mark, Tyler Hyde and Charlie Wayne, now a six-piece, decided to write an entire new set of material to perform. They played to swelling crowds at festivals, including triumphant performances at Primavera, Green Man and Fuji Rock, entering a new musical phase as they navigated and developed songs that were just weeks old.
Image courtesy of Secret Signals
As the songs continued to develop on the road they decided to avoid conventional next steps. People waiting on new material have eight new, excellent songs to hear, but not in the way they might have expected. “We didn’t want to do a studio album,” says BC, NR pianist May Kershaw, along with saxophonist Lewis Evans and bassist Tyler Hyde, now taking on vocal duties. “We wrote the new tracks specifically to perform live, so we thought it might be a nice idea to put out a performance.”
The result is a filmed live performance, directed by Greg Barnes and mixed by PJ Harvey collaborator John Parish, that took place over three nights at London’s Bush Hall. “It’s about capturing the moment,” says Lewis Evans. “A little time capsule of these eight months that we’ve had playing these songs on the road.”
Despite the lack of studio material up to this time, the three sold-out December shows witnessed an audience eager to sing back every word of these new songs, learned only through online clips and YouTube recordings, a nod to both the band’s resilience and the dedication of their tight-knit community of fans.
While this is a platform for the band’s excellent new music, this is first and foremost a film the band stresses. “We want the focal point to be this film,” says Wayne. “We’ve put a lot of effort into making it feel like you’re watching a live gig. It’s not an album in our eyes, it’s a live performance.”
ASIA LIVE SHOW / FESTIVAL DATES
Mar 5 – Hong Kong – Clockenflap Festival
Mar 7 – Taiwan – The Wall
Mar 11 – Thailand – Pelupo International Music Festival
Mar 17 – Indonesia – Joyland Festival Bali