Hip-Hop Lives Here
Hip-Hop Lives Here
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Black Country, New Road aren’t exactly foreign to reinventions. The band first emerged as Nervous Conditions, though quickly disbanded in 2018 after its then-frontman Conor Browne was accused of sexual misconduct. Its remaining six members went onto take on a new name and a new form, signing to Ninja Tune [Bonobo, Bicep] and releasing two scene-shaking albums, ‘For The First Time’ in 2021 and ‘Ants From Up There’ the following year, both of which landed five-star reviews from NME, the latter being dubbed as a “future cult classic”.
But even their second album was released under a cloud. Four days prior to its release, lead singer Isaac Wood left the band, citing mental health struggles. A US headline tour was pulled, and the band have since pledged to not perform any of the songs from the Wood era in their live sets, instead following the tide and using the lineup change as an opportunity for a total reinvention. Lead singing duties are now shared by bassist Taylor Hyde, saxophonist Lewis Evans and keyboardist May Kershaw. Talent runs seriously deep in this band.
The context around ‘Live At Bush Hall’ may suggest some miraculous rebirth is due, but instead it proves less dramatic but more potent: a group of pals supporting one another through thick and thin. Recorded over two nights at the London venue – and with distinctly different performance settings – the group roped in fellow creatives to help build the sets and costumes, telling NME that it felt akin to a school play with all hands on deck.
On the accompanying live film, you get a slightly better sense of that feeling: members sharing grins, subtle encouragement and admiration told only with their eyes. Here, though, the new songs – performed throughout 2022 at their various live shows, and which may not feature on album three – have their moment to shine, away from the panto-like backdrop.
The tracks are less knotty than what they’ve released before, but the rawness is spectacularly beautiful. ‘Turbines/Pigs’, which clocks in at nearly 10 minutes, is simply stunning, where Kershaw’s vocals first dance around twinkling pianos and then explode with a full band instrumental. The final 30 seconds of the recording are dedicated to the crowd’s celebrations, and deservedly so.
‘The Boy’ moves with the same insistence as anything on Arcade Fire’s ‘Funeral’, while ‘I Won’t Always Love You’ shares the same sonic architecture as Radiohead. The band dub these 2022 sets as works-in-progress, and say that none of its members are precious about the songs, a problem that thankfully doesn’t bely this release. You sense even better is to come.
‘Live At Bush Hall’, then, offers a remarkable snapshot of a band in transition, one willing to push on and not let circumstances stand in the way of what they love doing most. They’re a collective that remain humble and ready to tackle whatever is yet to come, steadfast that, as a unit, they are unstoppable. No wonder that ‘Up Song’, the show’s opening song, reinforces that message simply and sweetly: “Look at what we did together / BC,NR friends forever”.
Details
• Release date: March 24, 2023
• Record label: Ninja Tune
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33 years and 12 albums in, Pearl Jam fans would be forgiven for thinking they know exactly what to expect from the band by now. From dominating the ‘90s rock scene with their 13-times platinum breakthrough ‘Ten’ to a middle-of-the-road stint in the ‘00s with lacklustre, bluesy albums ‘Binaural’ and 2006’s self-titled snoozer, it seemed up until now that the band’s heyday had been left in the past. Yet, with ‘Dark Matter’ – their first release since 2020’s ‘Gigaton’ – Eddie Vedder and co. prove they still have some surprises up their sleeve.
From the get-go, the grunge icons deliver some of their most hard-hitting work in recent years, launching into explosive tracks ‘Scared Of Fear’ and ‘React, Respond’, which are not dissimilar from the classics in ‘Vitalogy’ and ‘Vs’. This time around though, they have not only ventured back to their roots, but combined it with their decades of experience.
Nowhere is this refinement showcased better than the title track. Alongside delivering the same rapturous hit of energy that first put Pearl Jam on the scene, it also showcases the instrumental virtuosity of bassist Jeff Ament and lead guitarist Mike McCready, as the two playfully toy with dynamics and show off some scarcely seen flashiness.
This isn’t to say that the members have turned their back on their musical evolution though, as a hefty chunk of the LP still pays homage to their more recent, blues-flavoured stylings. ‘Wreckage’, ‘Won’t Tell’ and ‘Something Special’, for instance, sit in the realm of more recent albums like ‘Lightning Bolt’ – taking a stripped-back, almost-country approach as Vedder lays down his signature vocals over the top.
Tucked away in the latter half of the LP though, an interesting shift is introduced in the form of the experimental ‘Upper Hand’ and emotionally-rich ‘Setting Sun’. Here, not only do the band prove they’re in top form musically, but the lyrics from Vedder have the power to take it to the next level. “I held the dream you would stay with me ’til kingdom come/ Turns out it was more like hit and run/ Am I the only one hanging on?” he questions in the latter, as the album draws to a close — a line which feels particularly heavy given the tragic fate that has followed frontmen in the grunge scene.
For those longing for the charismatic songwriting that first put the band on the map over three decades ago, ‘Dark Matter’ will come as a pleasant surprise. Not only does it showcase Pearl Jam reclaiming the charm that first made them a force to be reckoned with back in 1991, it comes alongside some of their most impressive musicianship yet, as well as a determination to take risks after years of playing it safe.
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