Black Country, New Road Announce New Album 'Forever Howlong' + Unveil First Single 'Besties'

Black Country, New Road return today with the announcement of a new album, Forever Howlong, coming April 4th on Ninja Tune.

Forever Howlong is their first studio release since 2022's UK #3 album Ants From Up There, which gave the band 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. “It created a real through line for the album, having three girls singing," says Ellery. "It's definitely very different to Ants From Up There, because of the female perspective - and the music we've made also compliments that."

The band also share the first single and album opener with the expansive, joyous "Besties", the first Black Country, New Road studio release to feature lead vocals by Georgia Ellery.

“Besties” is paired with a music video directed by Rianne White who won awards for directing, producing and editing "Lord" for Young Fathers and who has also worked with the likes of Aurora, Kae Tempest and Lola Young. She had the following to say about the new video:

"Besties came into my world with a dance of feelings, with such an understood concept of exploring the core emotion of taking on the world, and its obstacles to be with her, the bestie, again. Building this with the band took me to so many memories, informed by a collective of experiences from my childhood writing letters and maps to my bestie, into formulating our own map and sliding-doors effect narrative - charged with the instinctual punch and intuition of: I need to be with my bestie now. Working with Georgia, May and Tyler was a real treat across their performances especially, and quite literally, running from the more conventional lip-sync world, and injecting cameo moments with Charlie, Lewis and Luke. Knee-high in January’s jacket of mud, darkness, fields, street corners and a pack of hounds we found the beating heart of a world made better by chasing love and connection. Shooting in these conditions, and having fun is a real testament to a fantastic team and collective of people! It’s been such a pleasure, this song was love at first harpsichord!”

The band’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.

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