Black Country, New Road Share Final Single From Forever Howlong

Black Country, New Road share a new single titled "For the Cold Country". The track comes ahead of their new album, "Forever Howlong", which is due out April 4th on Ninja Tune.

"Forever Howlong" is the band's first studio release since 2022's UK #3 album “Ants From Up There”, which gave them their second Top 5 UK album in 12 months alongside their Mercury Prize shortlisted debut “For the first time”, and follows 2023's "Live at Bush Hall", an album The Guardian claimed was a “magical resurgence” in a triumphant five-star review. Now, on studio album three, the band are once again building from the ground up in yet another miraculous musical transformation.

The long-awaited new record was produced by James Ford (Fontaines D.C., Arctic Monkeys, Depeche Mode, Blur) and sees Black Country, New Road settled into a new shape in which vocal duties – and most of the song writing – is split between Tyler Hyde, Georgia Ellery, and May Kershaw. The album was announced alongside it's expansive and joyous opener "Besties", which was met by rapturous praise from both their incredibly dedicated fans and media alike. The track was recently followed up with "Happy Birthday". Inspired by the former single, it is a perfect example of how songs on Forever Howlong are connected in spirit and tone but still feel like very standalone pieces of work.

"For the Cold Country" is the first of the singles to feature May Kershaw on lead vocal duties. Building from choral layered vocal melodies and pared back instrumentation, the track swells and transforms into an enlivening, rhythmic breakout that marks one of the records most epic moments. The song speaks once again to the band's proficiency in dynamic control, and their efflorescent songwriting ability.

Black Country, New Road's ability to respond to changing circumstances is not only down to their close-knit friendship but due to their talent, adaptability and long standing relationship together as musicians. A mix of classically trained and self-taught, the multi-instrumentalists gathered steam as a band in the late 2010s, regularly playing The Windmill in Brixton alongside friends and peers such as Squid and Black Midi, and soon found themselves being labelled "the best band in the world" by The Quietus.

Here in 2025, "Forever Howlong" is an ambitious, meticulously detailed record that includes everything from folk to prog via baroque pop and touches of alt-rock – with nods to everything from Joanna Newsom to Randy Newman via Fiona Apple and Janis Ian – yet all the while retaining that unmistakably unique sound that only this combination of musicians can come up with. Although hugely varied and expansive, the album also feels deeply cohesive and focused, as it takes three distinct voices and styles and seamlessly intersperses them into a new collective sound.

"For The Cold Country" is out now. "Forever Howlong" is out on April 4 via Ninja Tune.

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