Ants from Up There
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Ants from Up There
| type = studio
| artist = Black Country, New Road
| cover = Ants from Up There - Black Country, New Road.jpg
| alt = A bag with a gold plane inside hanging from a hook on a wooden background
| released = 4 February 2022
| recorded = 2021
| studio = Chale Abbey, Isle of Wight, England
| genre =
| length = 58:46
| label = Ninja Tune
| producer = Sergio Maschetzko
| prev_title = For the First Time
| prev_year = 2021
| next_title = Live at Bush Hall
| next_year = 2023
| misc = {{Singles
| name = Ants from Up There
| type = studio
| single1 = Chaos Space Marine
| single1date = 12 October 2021
| single2 = Bread Song
| single2date = 2 November 2021
| single3 = Concorde
| single3date = 30 November 2021
| single4 = Snow Globes
| single4date = 19 January 2022
}}
}}
Ants from Up There is the second studio album by British rock band Black Country, New Road, released on 4 February 2022 on Ninja Tune.{{cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/en_au/news/music/black-country-new-road-announce-second-album-ants-from-up-there-and-share-chaos-space-marine-3068792|title=Black Country, New Road announce second album 'Ants From Up There' and share 'Chaos Space Marine'|first=Will|last=Richards|date=12 October 2021|access-date=15 November 2021|website=Nme.com}} Recorded at Chale Abbey on the Isle of Wight, the album was produced by the band's live sound engineer Sergio Maschetzko, and is the final album to feature lead vocalist and guitarist Isaac Wood, who announced his departure from the band on 31 January 2022, four days prior to the album's release.{{cite web |last1=Strauss |first1=Matthew |title=Black Country, New Road Frontman Isaac Wood Departs Band Days Before New Album Release |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/black-country-new-road-frontman-isaac-wood-departs-band-days-before-new-album-release/ |website=Pitchfork |date=31 January 2022 |access-date=31 January 2022}}
Written during COVID-19 lockdowns and road-tested during brief touring stints in support of their debut album, For the First Time (2021), the album was released almost exactly a year after their debut, and was preceded by four singles: "Chaos Space Marine", "Bread Song", "Concorde" and "Snow Globes".
The album received unanimous critical acclaim upon its release. It became Black Country, New Road's highest-charting album, debuting at No. 3 on the UK Albums Chart and also reaching the top ten in Australia, Germany and the Netherlands.
Background and recording
Ants from Up There is Black Country, New Road's second album, following their 2021 debut For the First Time. Speaking to NME at the 2021 Mercury Prize awards ceremony, for which their debut album had been nominated, the band confirmed that they had already completed work on a follow-up, describing the album as "sad, epic, and possibly more universally likeable" and that the songs are "more palatable" compared to For the First Time. Bassist Tyler Hyde stated that "we have figured out what we're trying to say, so it makes a bit more sense. Some of the songs are shorter. We attempted to write songs that were three and a half minutes."{{Cite web|url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/black-country-new-road-have-finished-a-new-sad-epic-and-possibly-more-universally-likeable-album-3042803|title=Black Country, New Road have finished a new "sad, epic and possibly more universally likeable" album|website=Nme.com|date=10 September 2021|access-date=7 February 2022}}
Writing for the album began in 2020, when the United Kingdom announced a new lockdown to combat deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic. Hyde and drummer Charlie Wayne expressed disgust with Prime Minister Boris Johnson's actions during the lockdown.{{Cite web|date=2022-01-21|title=Black Country, New Road: 'We are really, really deep in debt. We need some hits'|url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/music/black-country-new-road-ants-from-up-there-interview-new-album-1412967|access-date=2022-02-05|website=inews.co.uk|language=en}} The band embarked on a socially distant summer tour in June 2021 to road test their new material. Wayne claimed in an interview with Uncut, "That tour had quite a specific purpose. It wasn't necessarily just to be present out there on the road, it was to workshop these songs and see how they fared in front of people; to make sure we hadn't got it wrong."{{cite magazine|last=Richards |first=Sam |date= March 2022 |title=Black Country, New Road: Q&A |magazine= Uncut |url=https://www.uncut.co.uk/publications/magazines/uncut-march-2022-136346/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220113000000/https://www.uncut.co.uk/publications/magazines/uncut-march-2022-136346/ |archive-date=2022-01-13 |pages= 18–21}} [https://archive.org/details/uncut-march-2022 Alt URL]
The album was recorded {{citation needed span |date=December 2024 |text=over three weeks}} at Chale Abbey Studios,{{Cite web|date=2021-11-30|title=Listen to Black Country, New Road's tender new single 'Concorde'|url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/listen-to-black-country-new-roads-tender-new-single-concorde-3107886|access-date=2021-12-11|website=NME|language=en-GB}} on the Isle of Wight, in 2021. The band's live sound engineer, Sergio Maschetzko, produced the sessions. Hyde told Uncut, "He'd never actually recorded an album before. The intention was to capture what we were doing live as closely as possible and he was the man for the job because he knows us better than anyone else - he sometimes knows our playing better than we do." As a result, the band recorded the majority of the album live in the studio. The album was recorded in 2021. In an interview with Uncut, Wayne said, "It's funny, because the day we started recording was the day that everyone opened up in the UK. We were in a farmhouse for two weeks without access to a car, so in a way it was a continuation of our isolation. But I suppose that's how the album was written, so maybe it's faithful [to the material] – that's how it was recorded as well."
Wood, the lead vocalist, announced his departure from the band on 31 January 2022 due to mental health reasons, four days before the album's release date. The band's first United States tour was cancelled as a result. The remaining members said they will not continue to perform music written with Wood after his departure.{{Cite news|last=Pareles|first=Jon|date=2022-02-07|title=Black Country, New Road's Perilous Triumph|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/07/arts/music/black-country-new-road-ants-from-up-there-review.html|access-date=2022-02-07|issn=0362-4331}}
Composition and lyrics
Musically, Ants from Up There primarily incorporates post-rock, chamber pop and art rock. It has been compared to Canadian indie rock bands Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade,{{Cite web|last=King|first=Pat|date=2022-02-03|title=What Lies Ahead for Black Country, New Road?|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/black-country-new-road/interview-ants-from-up-there/|access-date=2022-02-04|website=pastemagazine.com|language=en}} with the band noting that they were directly influenced by Arcade Fire's Funeral (2004), Sufjan Stevens' Illinois (2005), Arthur Russell's Iowa Dream (2019) and Billie Eilish's Happier Than Ever (2021) during the recording process. Hyde and drummer Charlie Wayne stated that the album took some structural influence from pop music, describing its makeup as "more conceptually pop than sounding like pop". Whereas For the First Time was a collection of songs that the band had already been playing live, Ants from Up There was the first album where the band specifically sought to make every song fit with the others as "one body of work", according to saxophonist Lewis Evans.{{Cite web|date=2022-02-04|title=Recounting: Ants From Up There by Black Country, New Road|url=https://blog.roughtrade.com/gb/recounting-ants-from-up-there-by-black-country-new-road/|access-date=2022-02-04|website=Rough Trade Blog}}
Many of the album's tracks stem from initial writing sessions between band members Isaac Wood (vocals, guitar), Tyler Hyde (bass) and Luke Mark (guitar), who lived together during the first COVID-19 lockdown. Drummer Charlie Wayne noted: "The first time I heard ideas for "Concorde" or "The Place Where He Inserted the Blade" was when I came over to hang out in their kitchen and we got this little drum kit set up." In January 2021, the month before the release of the band's debut studio album, For the First Time, the full band convened for a week to work on new material: "Eventually there was a week-long rehearsal session in Hoxton in January where we all came together, and that's when the songs really became whole. It's only when everyone has brought their own constituent parts to it that you can really credit it as Black Country, New Road."
"Basketball Shoes", which dates back prior to the release of For the First Time, was the first song written for the album, followed by "Snow Globes". Hyde stated that "other than that, most of them were written at the same time and they were all essentially birthed by 'Basketball Shoes{{'"}}. In comparison to For the First Time, which was apathetic and dealt with fictional scenarios, Hyde and Wayne said Ants from Up There features more vulnerable lyrical topics.
"Intro" contains an instrumental motif found in "Basketball Shoes", the album's closer.{{Citation|title=Ants From Up There by Black Country, New Road|date=2022-02-04|url=https://music.apple.com/us/album/ants-from-up-there/1586070259|language=en-US|access-date=2022-02-05}}. Apple Music It incorporates klezmer elements, a style of Jewish music which Evans and multi-instrumentalist Georgia Ellery had experience playing.{{Cite web|title=Black Country, New Road on love, aliens, and the perfect pop of Ants From Up There|url=https://www.thefader.com/2022/02/04/black-country-new-road-on-love-aliens-and-perfect-pop|access-date=2022-02-05|website=The FADER|language=en}} Lead single "Chaos Space Marine" came "about through a joke", Hyde said.{{uncited|date=September 2024}} The song derived its name from the eponymous miniature figurines in the Warhammer 40,000 franchise.{{cite web|last=Slingerland|first=Calum|date=12 October 2021|title=Black Country, New Road Detail Sophomore Album 'Ants from Up There'|url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/black_country_new_road_detail_sophomore_album_ants_from_up_there|work=Exclaim!|access-date=15 November 2021}} Third single "Concorde" was inspired by science fiction stories including Luca and 2012. The band listened to the music of former The War on Drugs guitarist Kurt Vile during the writing of "Good Will Hunting", which was written in two versions, one containing a {{Time signature|6|4}} time signature and the other in {{Time signature|4|4}}; the final version is a combination of both.
"Haldern" was named after the Haldern Pop music festival in Germany, which the band played during the pandemic. It is the only song on the album to originate from an improvisation session. "Mark's Theme" is an instrumental written by Evans following the passing of his uncle Mark from COVID-19 in 2021. "Snow Globes" was performed as early as January 2020, a notable example being a 2020 Christmas livestream concert with Black Midi, with the band adding new elements to each successive live performance similar to rapper Kanye West's alterations to previously recorded studio material; the band also took inspiration from Frank Ocean's song "White Ferrari".
Hyde described closing song "Basketball Shoes" as "essentially a medley of the whole album", containing motifs repeated from the album's earlier songs such as "Concorde" and the clamp from "Snow Globes". Wayne said that it was "three songs in one, basically". It was one of the first songs the band wrote and predates For the First Time, originally describing an unhealthy obsession with British singer Charli XCX in its earliest form before undergoing significant lyrical changes for the final version.{{Cite web|date=2022-02-02|title=Black Country, New Road Sidestep Expectations on Ants From Up There|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/black-country-new-road/ants-from-up-there-album-review/|access-date=2022-02-05|website=pastemagazine.com|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Black Country, New Road Still Soar Above Their Peers on 'Ants from Up There' {{!}} Exclaim!|url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/black_country_new_road_ants_from_up_there_album_review|access-date=2022-02-05|website=exclaim.ca|language=en-ca}}
Wayne and Hyde named "Snow Globes" and "The Place Where He Inserted the Blade" the easiest and hardest tracks to record respectively. The former ended up on the album in the form of its first take in studio, while the recording process of the latter took considerable time due to a technical error on Wayne's part.{{Cite web|date=2022-02-09|title=Kıyı x Black Country, New Road / Video Interview #5|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYpmchF2i2Y&t=17s/|access-date=2022-02-17|website=youtube.com|language=en}}
The album's title was its last component to be finalized, with the band naming it on the day of its deadline. It refers to the appearance of people while viewed from an airplane, tying in with the album cover and the recurring lyrical theme of the Concorde jet. The artwork for the album is by Simon Monk. The artwork for the album's promotional materials came from band members' childhood drawings.
Promotion and release
Ants from Up There was announced on 12 October 2021 alongside the release of the album's first single, "Chaos Space Marine", which Wood described as "the best song [they have] ever written". On 2 November 2021, the band released "Bread Song" as the second single. The song's style and instrumentation were inspired by Steve Reich{{'}}s Music for 18 Musicians, wherein the band were to play without definitive timing and cues.{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/news/black-country-new-road-share-new-bread-song-listen/|title=Black Country, New Road Share New "Bread Song": Listen|first=Evan|last=Minsker|date=2 November 2021|access-date=15 November 2021|work=Pitchfork}} A third song, "Concorde", was released on 30 November 2021 as the album's third single.{{Cite web|date=2021-11-30|title=Black Country, New Road - "Concorde"|url=https://www.stereogum.com/2168942/black-country-new-road-concorde/music/|access-date=2021-12-11|website=Stereogum|language=en}} In an interview with Consequence, the band said that they used the mandolin to give the song "unpredictability" and "a snappy and spiky element".{{Cite web|date=2021-11-30|title=Black Country, New Road share Origins of new song "Concorde": Exclusive|url=https://consequence.net/2021/11/black-country-new-road-concorde-origins/|access-date=2021-12-09|website=Consequence|language=en-US}}
The band released "Snow Globes", the fourth and final single, on 19 January 2022. In a statement, Wayne noted the contrast between the drum track and the rest of the instruments, serving in a more independent and expressive role.{{Cite web|date=2022-01-19|title=Black Country, New Road Share New Single, "Snow Globes"|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/black-country-new-road/black-country-new-road-single-snow-globes/|access-date=2022-01-19|website=pastemagazine.com|language=en}} The track had previously been performed in an earlier state as part of the group's joint fundraiser for the Windmill with Black Midi on 10 December 2020.{{Cite web|title=Black Country, New Road's "Snow Globes" is a wintry mix|url=https://www.thefader.com/2022/01/19/black-country-new-road-snow-globes|access-date=2022-01-31|website=The Fader|language=en}}
Critical reception
{{Music ratings
| MC = 92/100{{Cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/ants-from-up-there/black-country-new-road|title=Ants from up There by Black Country, New Road|website=Metacritic|access-date=4 February 2022}}
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web |last1=Simpson |first1=Paul |title=Ants From Up There - Black Country, New Road |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/ants-from-up-there-mw0003606898 |website=AllMusic |access-date=4 February 2022 |date=4 February 2022 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211120185322/https://www.allmusic.com/album/ants-from-up-there-mw0003606898 |archive-date=20 November 2021 }}
| rev2 = Clash
| rev2score = 9/10{{Cite web|url= https://www.clashmusic.com/reviews/black-country-new-road-ants-from-up-there|last=Kilkenny|first=James|date=31 January 2022|title=Black Country, New Road - Ants From Up There {{!}} Reviews|work=Clash|access-date=1 February 2022}}
| rev3 = The Independent
| rev3score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{Cite web|url= https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/bastille-review-bcnr-cate-le-bon-b2006778.html|last=Beaumont|first=Mark|date=3 February 2022|title=Album reviews: Black Country New Road, Bastille, Cate Le Bon and Animal Collective|work=The Independent|access-date=3 February 2022}}
| rev4 = The Line of Best Fit
| rev4score = 10/10{{Cite web |last=Kohner |first=Kyle |date=3 February 2022 |title=Black Country, New Road push against the fate of oblivion on the excellent Ants From Up Here |url=https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/reviews/albums/black-country-new-road-ants-from-up-there-album-review |access-date=4 February 2022 |website=The Line of Best Fit}}
| rev5 = NME
| rev5score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{Cite web|url= https://www.nme.com/en_au/reviews/album/black-country-new-road-ants-from-up-there-review-3153404|last=Richards|first=Will|date=3 February 2022|title=Black Country, New Road – 'Ants From Up There' review: majestic, romantic indie-rock|work=NME|access-date=3 February 2022}}
| rev6 = The Observer
| rev6score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/feb/06/black-country-new-road-ants-from-up-there-review-a-baroque-pop-masterpiece-isaac-wood|last=Morris|first=Damien|date=6 February 2022|title=Black Country, New Road: Ants From Up There review - a baroque pop masterpiece|work=The Observer|access-date=6 February 2022}}
| rev7 = Pitchfork
| rev7score = 8.4/10{{Cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/black-country-new-road-ants-from-up-there/|first=Ian|last=Cohen|title=Black Country, New Road: Ants From Up There Album Review|work=Pitchfork|access-date=February 8, 2022|date=February 8, 2022}}
| rev8 = PopMatters
| rev8score = 9/10{{Cite web|url= https://www.popmatters.com/black-country-new-road-ants|last=Morgan|first=Tom|date=4 February 2022|title='Ants From Up There' Sees Black Country, New Road Thrillingly Solidify Their Unique Vision Reviews|work=PopMatters|access-date=4 February 2022}}
| rev9 = The Skinny
| rev9score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web |last1=Wade |first1=Lewis |title=Ants From Up There - Black Country, New Road |url=https://www.theskinny.co.uk/music/reviews/albums/black-country-new-road-ants-from-up-there |website=The Skinny |access-date=4 February 2022 |date=31 January 2022 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131130744/https://www.theskinny.co.uk/music/reviews/albums/black-country-new-road-ants-from-up-there |archive-date=31 January 2022 }}
| rev10 = Uncut
| rev10score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{Cite web|url= https://www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/album/black-country-new-road-ants-from-up-there-136872/|last=Richards|first=Sam|date=4 February 2022|title=Black Country, New Road – Ants From Up There Album Reviews|work=Uncut|access-date=4 February 2022}}
}}
Ants from Up There received universal acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, the album has received an average score of 92, based on 20 reviews. The album has been widely touted as a 'masterpiece,' receiving many perfect scores from critics upon release. According to Metacritic, it was the third-most critically acclaimed album of 2022.{{Cite web |title=The 40 Best Albums of 2022: Ants From Up There by Black Country, New Road |url=https://www.metacritic.com/pictures/best-albums-of-2022/20 |access-date=2022-12-26 |website=Metacritic}}
NME gave the album five stars out of five, proclaiming that the band managed "to pivot towards more familiar, accessible sounds and embrace traditional song structures – without sacrificing an ounce of their musical wizardry or inventiveness", declaring it "truly remarkable" and a "future cult classic" in the wake of Wood's departure. The Independent, in a five stars out of five review, declared that "the sheer grace and ambition of Ants... will prove tough for 2022 to top", citing the "grunge rock crescendos accompanying images of burning starships on 'Good Will Hunting', and gargantuan arias on the 12-minute 'Basketball Shoes'" as track highlights. Ian Cohen of Pitchfork praised the album's "life-affirming", emo-like sentimentality in a review awarded Best New Music; he stated that by "manifesting every glimmer of hope as a heaven-sent beacon and every letdown as a plunge towards the void," the band captured the essence of "adjacent masterpieces like [
Special praise was reserved for Wood's songwriting, widely lauded as an album highlight for its emotional intensity and depth. Jamie Kilkenny of Clash noted that "[t]he angle of [Ants
Critics also singled out closing track "Basketball Shoes" for praise, hailing the song's "astonishing" scope and "devastating, yet cleansing" emotional impact. Sam Richards of Uncut compared the song favorably to "Marquee Moon" and the work of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, praising it as "a moment of euphoria, catharsis or collapse" and declaring it "a gut-wrenching epic of Dostoevskian proportions."
The album was named a "Critic's Pick" by The New York Times.
=Year-end lists=
Track listing
{{Track listing
| all_writing = Charlie Wayne, Georgia Ellery, Isaac Wood, Lewis Evans, Luke Mark, May Kershaw, and Tyler Hyde.
| headline =
| extra_column = Producer(s)
| total_length = 58:46
| title1 = Intro
| writer1 =
| extra1 =
| length1 = 0:54
| title2 = Chaos Space Marine
| writer2 =
| extra2 =
| length2 = 3:36
| title3 = Concorde
| writer3 =
| extra3 =
| length3 = 6:03
| title4 = Bread Song
| writer4 =
| extra4 =
| length4 = 6:20
| title5 = Good Will Hunting
| writer5 =
| extra5 =
| length5 = 4:58
| title6 = Haldern
| writer6 =
| extra6 =
| length6 = 5:05
| title7 = Mark's Theme
| writer7 =
| extra7 =
| length7 = 2:47
| title8 = The Place Where He Inserted the Blade
| writer8 =
| extra8 =
| length8 = 7:13
| title9 = Snow Globes
| writer9 =
| extra9 =
| length9 = 9:13
| title10 = Basketball Shoes
| writer10 =
| extra10 =
| length10 = 12:37
}}{{Track listing
| headline = Deluxe version disc 2 (Live from the Queen Elizabeth Hall)
| title1 = Mark's Theme
| length1 = 2:43
| title2 = Instrumental
| length2 = 5:25
| title3 = Athens, France
| length3 = 6:49
| title4 = Science Fair
| length4 = 6:33
| title5 = Sunglasses
| length5 = 8:59
| title6 = Track X
| length6 = 5:09
| title7 = Opus
| length7 = 8:56
| title8 = Bread Song
| length8 = 6:55
| title9 = Basketball Shoes
| length9 = 13:24
| total_length = 123:39
}}{{track listing
| total_length = 63:58
| headline = Japanese edition (bonus track){{cite web|url=https://www.beatink.com/products/detail.php?product_id=12146|title=BEATINK.COM Ants from Up There|publisher=Beatink.com|access-date=January 28, 2023}}
| title11 = Haldern
| note11 = Piano Version
| length11 = 5:00
}}
Personnel
Adapted from vinyl liner notes and Uncut.{{Cite AV media notes |title=Ants From Up There |title-link=Ants from Up There |first= |last=Black Country, New Road |date=4 February 2022 |page=20 |type=booklet |publisher=Ninja Tune |id= ZEN278Y |location=London, UK}}{{cite magazine |last=Richards |first=Sam |date=March 2022 |title=Black Country, New Road - Ants From Up There |url=https://archive.org/details/uncut-march-2022 |magazine=Uncut |location=London, United Kingdom |publisher=NME Networks |issue=March 2022 |page=20 |access-date=3 February 2022}}
===Black Country, New Road===
- Charlie Wayne – drums, backing vocals
- Georgia Ellery – violin, mandolin, cello, backing vocals
- Isaac Wood – vocals, guitar
- Lewis Evans – saxophone, flute, backing vocals
- Luke Mark – guitar, backing vocals
- May Kershaw – keyboards, marimba, glockenspiel, backing vocals
- Tyler Hyde – bass, backing vocals
=Additional personnel=
- Tony Fagg – banjo (track 2)
- Mark Paton – vocals (track 7)
- Basil Tierney – additional drums (track 10)
- Christian Wright – mastering
- Sergio Maschetzko – engineering, mixing
- David Granshaw – engineering, mixing
- Tomas Moreno – additional engineering
- Simon Monk – art
- Joseph Durnan – layout