Black Country, New Road – Ants From Up There

From the trilling klezmer of Intro all the way into the thirteenth meandering minute of Basketball Shoes, Ants From Up There maintains an impressive musical cohesion. Whether it's string-laden melodrama (Chaos Space Marine), stately piano (Haldern), bluesy guitar (The Place Where He Inserted the Blade) or cacophonous brass (Snow Globes), the band slot into a groove that can gallop, murmur or shock from one moment to the next, without ever sacrificing a sense of unity.

It's an impressive feat, and gives Isaac Wood a striking canvas to deliver his winding narratives (Concorde, The Place Where...) or nonsensical scraps (Bread Song – 'don't eat your toast in bed', Good Will Hunting). To say this is a band bursting with ideas would be an understatement and their “anything goes” style can be testing, despite its clear intentionality.

With half the album's ten songs over six minutes long, you'd expect a little space to breathe – and there are occasional moments – but it's mostly a barrage of sounds and ideas. Though not quite as intense as fellow experimental rockers du jour black midi, Black Country, New Road know that a whispered line about 'Billie Eilish style' or piercing saxophone run can hit just as effectively. It's a fascinating second album from a band that feel genuinely unpredictable.

Listen to: Concorde, Chaos Space Marine, Snow Globes