Page 462 - Guildhall Coverage Book 2020-21

Black Country, New Road

NINJA TUNE

From mixtape to album

Woods originally wrote his lyrics as stories before they mutated into song
lyrics. Often it is - in good British tradition - everyday observations from his
immediate environment that Woods notes. "I've never sat down to write lyrics. I will

probably never do that either, I'd rather watch TV or go for a walk," the songwriter
suggests, as he thinks about inspiration. Incidentally, Wood has only recently started
writing songs.

The band recorded the album live in March 2020, shortly before the lockdown in
London. Andy Savor, who has already worked with My Bloody Valentine and Ray
Davies, produced it. Black Country New Road are currently in the middle of working
on the successor plant. That will then rely even more on the album format as an art
form. "I see this album as more of a mixtape of our first phase as a band. The next
one will make more use of the album format," explains Wood.

"For The First Time" is an album that takes you into a world of sound that is as
disturbing as it is beguiling. A hybrid - as exciting and constantly in flux as everyday
life in post-Brexit London.

layout

• David Baldinger