Elbowing our way through the pit, a digicam flash lit up a man’s tasteful hoop earring. It was the kind of queer millennial crowd where, approaching the barricades, we spotted three unrelated women with pink hair; the kind of crowd where bisexual girls swayed in the arms of their mustachioed boyfriends; the kind of crowd that fills The Salt Shed on a Tuesday night—not the valet parking lot, just the bike racks.
Dressed in her signature brown and white striped long sleeve, bassist Tyler Hyde, playing front and center, pulled out a bow. Drawing it over the bass strings with her pick hanging out of her mouth, the de facto lead vocalist of Black Country, New Road exemplified their “new sound”: experimental, lyrical, and—feminine? With the loss of their initial lead singer, the band has shifted from sad-alt-indie-rock male vocals to a trio of folksy women. Hyde acknowledged this shift in her closing remarks, thanking the crowd for sticking with them, but there’s a lingering question of how their fanbase will react to the women taking the mic.
The band’s critically acclaimed 2022 album, Ants From Up There, was shaped by Isaac Wood, their initial lead singer and guitarist. Wood left the band just before the release of Ants; their latest album, Forever Howlong, released three years later, marks a distinct change. While the band’s instrumental prowess is obvious across their work, their newest album is more experimental, with each member spending more time in the spotlight showing off their sound. The trio of women, Tyler Hyde (bass), May Kershaw (keys, accordion), and Georgia Ellery (violin, mandolin), warble like birds, making for beautiful harmonies and interlacing melodies.
Hyde is the de facto lead; she has the most powerful stage presence and distinct voice (à la Nico of the Velvet Underground). Even so, each woman writes and leads her own songs, making the album an amalgamation of different lyrical styles with the throughline being little enunciation and nearly incomprehensible words. Where Ants was marked by Wood’s mournful vocals and cryptic, striking lyrical images, Forever Howlong creates a kaleidoscope of sound that’s less-readily latched onto but instead washes over its listeners, perfectly at home in the breezy Chicago May.
Black Country, New Road’s performance is dynamic in that the core of the piece could be at any corner of the stage, both in terms of their variable vocalists and their instrumental range. In addition to the women, who switched from violin to mandolin (Ellery) and keys to accordion (Kershaw) as the moment required, Lewis Evans (saxophone, flute), Charlie Wayne (drums), and Luke Mark (guitar) had their moments in the limelight. “The Big Spin,” for instance, is notable for the brass and drums that create a jaunty, carnival feel. During the performance of “The Big Spin,” the band brought out Jack Hudspath, a professional yo-yoer from Illinois whose Instagram profile features stunts in front of waterfalls and rivers wearing the same pair of red checkered pants. Hudspath performed his interpretive yo-yo routine to the beat of the music and, as he bowed off stage, the crowd chanted “One more yo!” to no avail.
With their newest album, Black Country, New Road is back with a new sound and bouncy, lively spirit, perfect for a bright Chicago summer.
