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Feb 7, 2022To get the full effect, listen to the album from start to finish, over and over again. It’s a blast.
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Feb 3, 2022For now, what we do have is an incredible record from a band, mid-flight, delivering sweeping abstractions of Gen-Z anxiety that only this group, as a seven-piece led by Isaac Wood, could create.
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Feb 3, 2022This singular record will remain a stunning collection to be cherished for years to come, and a remarkable high on which to end Wood’s tenure at the front of the band. It’s a future cult classic.
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Feb 3, 2022The sheer grace and ambition of Ants… will prove tough for 2022 to top. A huge leap forward, headfirst into the unknown.
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Feb 1, 2022Throughout Ants From Up There, they seem to revel in the creation of different atmospheres rather than the laying down of hooks or choruses.
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Feb 7, 2022Ants From Up Here is a thrilling listen, brimming with the confidence and electricity of a young band coming into their own on all fronts, pulling from the past but pushing it undeniably forward, and fully owning their ambition.
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Feb 7, 2022Throughout “Ants From Up Here,” and through the course of every song, Black Country, New Road tests and reinvents itself, creating music that sounds both intricately plotted and precarious.
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Feb 3, 2022The disregard for conventional structure and instrumentation, combined with the adroit, sincere lyrics, makes Ants From Up There one of the richest and most emotionally-honest albums released by a young British band for quite some time.
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Jan 31, 2022Ants From Up There is often beautiful, but its not an album you can listen to casually. Its relentless emotional pummelling is quite an experience, a rollercoaster ride for the soul that is likely to leave you feeling distinctly and permanently rearranged. [Mar 2022, p.18]
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Jan 31, 2022Overall, the ensemble sound incredibly close to the freewheeling jams fans are accustomed to; in short, they meet the sky-high potential teased on their first record.
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Jan 31, 2022This newfound willingness, even ability, to just be nakedly emotional and let the melodies lead is the best weapon this new Black Country, New Road have at their disposal. Isaac Wood, who once seemed right on the edge of slipping into complete post-ironic-irony with his spoken word drawl, sings the entire album in a delicate quaver which is a perfect fit for this new vulnerability.
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Feb 7, 2022This overall reduction in the reliance on guitar riffs allows for greater flexibility of sound, and as such BCNR wring out more staggering peaks of emotion from Wood’s lovelorn words.
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Feb 3, 2022It's hard to be anything but impressed with what a cohesive, intentioned work they’ve created as a result. Taken on their terms, this is easily one of the most richly rewarding projects of 2022 so far.
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Feb 8, 2022Knowing how it all ends does nothing to detract from the joy Black Country, New Road have poured into Ants From Up There—not when they spend every second reminding us of why we let ourselves get swept up in these beautifully doomed fantasies to begin with.
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Feb 4, 2022The band seems to play as a single multi-armed unit, and yet Wood's tortured voice is at the very center of their palette. Black Country made a strong impression on their debut, but things become much more interesting with Ants from Up There.
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Feb 3, 2022It won’t be quite as divisive as its predecessor - not least because this iteration of Black Country, New Road has ceased to exist before it’s even been heard - but ‘Ants From Up There’ might yet win over those stifled by hype first time around.
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MojoJan 31, 2022Ants... represents a substantial step forward for them. [Mar 2022, p.84]
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Jan 31, 2022It's a fascinating second album from a band that feel genuinely unpredictable.
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Feb 3, 2022Ants From Up There feels like the work of a band figuring itself out. ... This is a record that sees Black Country, New Road reestablishing themselves.
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Feb 2, 2022Like many sophomore albums, Ants from Up There serves both as a clearing house for leftover ideas from the debut and a tentative next step in Black Country's evolution. Serving both purposes results in an album that doesn't necessarily have the same electrical charge as what came before and would benefit from a little trimming here and there. That said, the band is still inarguably one of the most exciting prospects in new music at the moment, and here, the highs are head and shoulders above the majority of their contemporaries.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 220 out of 250
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Mixed: 7 out of 250
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Negative: 23 out of 250
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Feb 4, 2022
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Feb 4, 2022
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Feb 5, 2022