The Song Meaning Wiki

About this Album

Ants From Up There is the second studio album by Black Country, New Road, released on 4 February 2022 through Ninja Tune, almost exactly a year after the debut.[1] The band wrote it during lockdowns and recorded it over three weeks in July 2021 at Chale Abbey Studios on the Isle of Wight, produced by live sound engineer Sergio Maschetzko.[1]

It turns away from the deadpan narration of the debut toward more vulnerable material, and the band described aiming for perfect pop with emotional depth.[1][2] Four days before release, vocalist Isaac Wood announced his departure for mental health reasons, and the album is his last with the group.[1] Critics responded warmly: it scored 92 on Metacritic and debuted at number 3 on the UK Albums Chart.[1]

The band described many of the songs as earnest love songs, with recurring imagery of space, frontiers, and escape, and a restraint in the arrangements that left room for each member's parts. Tracks such as Good Will Hunting began life as separate riffs in different meters that were joined together.[2]

Songs

Bread SongConcordeGood Will HuntingSnow Globes

References

  1. Wikipedia: Ants from Up There — Recording, release, chart performance, and Isaac Wood's departure.
  2. The FADER: Black Country, New Road on love, aliens, and the perfect pop of Ants From Up There — Track-by-track band interview on themes, writing process, and Wood's departure.