Album review: Ants From Up There
This was originally a Twitter thread, hence the weird formatting and style. But, as a “longer” piece of writing, I also wanted to post it here.
As the end of the year is approaching, I want to write a little about my favorite album of 2022 and why I think it's so good.
The album is Ants From Up There by Black Country, New Road. Characters are costly, so I'll abbreviate them as AFUT and BCNR.
Good? Okay.
For some context, BCNR has been an up-and-coming English band for a few years (along with their friends from Black Midi and Squid). Their first album, For the First Time, was released in 2021 with critical acclaim.
Only 8 months after this release, BCNR started promoting their second album, with four singles that sounded even better than what was on FTFT (new acronym!)
AFUT came out precisely 364 days after FTFT. But, just before the release, Isaac Wood, the lead singer and lyricist, published a letter saying he was leaving the band, citing mental health struggles. It seems like he had major creative anxiety.
This was really sad as Isaac's voice, delivery, and poetry are integral to BCNR's music. I feared this was the end of the band.
Knowing this made me appreciate the album even more, and made it a very bittersweet listen. You can find my reaction from the release day of AFUT here:
Sonically, it is hard to classify. BCNR is a rock band, but it relies heavily on the violin, the saxophone, and the piano. Many songs are close to chamber music, but you also have Basketball Shoes, which has an epic post-rock ending.
In other places, you can find Bowie-like vocals (Chaos Space Marine) or an improvised, almost 9-minute drum solo that totally shouldn't work but somehow does (Snow Globes.)
Anyway, I'll leave the musical appreciation to you. I want to talk about what this album is about.
The less cryptic lyrics (like on Haldern) make it somewhat clear this is a breakup album.
Along the way, we learn a little bit more about this relationship. The themes of codependency and idealization are quite present. They're at their most evident in "The Place Where He Inserted the Blade."
The song's title sounds dramatic until we understand Isaac is singing about cooking food. He's having anxiety about the most menial tasks. Without his partner, he's lost.
On "Snow Globes", the theme of the falling relationship is illustrated by references to Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. I recommend this fantastic video for further analysis:
Throughout the album (and even in its name and cover), we hear mentions of Concorde. But who/what is it?
The Concorde is one of the most famous examples of the sunk cost fallacy, the tendency to continue something we've invested time/money/effort in, even when it's clear that giving up would be more beneficial.
With this in mind, it seems clear that Concorde is the relationship Isaac is in, although it is sometimes used to mention the other person in that relationship. (also remember the Concorde crashed.)
Please take a minute to appreciate the most beautiful lyrics on the album (and the cool Genius annotation):
Okay so this is all very tear-jerky, but let's get to the point: I don't think AFUT is about a romantic relationship.
Remember Isaac published his goodbye letter before the album came out. I'm sure he did this to offer his audience another way to understand the album.
It's not super subtle, and I have no credit here, but it seems like Concorde is not a person but the relationship between Isaac and the band's fans.
There are hints throughout the album, but, to me, the outro of The Place makes it really explicit.
"The fifth" and "the cadence" are musical terms. Isaac wants to please his audience, to meet the expectations they have of him. He's afraid of messing everything up, and that is crushing him.
The album also ends with interesting lyrics. In the first live versions of "Basketball Shoes," the song mentioned Charli XCX. In the album, she has been changed to "Charlie”.
The character of Charli XCX can be used to represent Isaac's self-worth as a musician. He wants to be valued by other accomplished artists. But Charlie can also be used to represent us, the audience.
"Your generous loan to me, your crippling interest" -> I understand it as our expectations for him being too high, "crippling." He can't repay them.
"All I've been forms the drone, we sing the rest." In music, a drone is a repeated note. He's put his whole self into his lyrics, which are then sung by the fans/the band.
Finally, referenced multiple times in the lyrics, the "clamp" is what seems to be holding Isaac back. Clamps is also a Futurama character, who uses his clamps to hurt people.
We should also note that Isaac used a Futurama quote in his letter: "So that's what things would be like if I'd invented the fing-longer." The "fing-longer" is a device the Professor wishes he had invented.
I'm not sure exactly what it all means, but it's interesting to contrast the "clamp" in the lyrics and the "fing-longer" in the letter. By leaving the band, I hope he has left the clamp behind.
In the end, this album seems to be about more than a romantic breakup. It's about the cost of creating art, dealing with expectations, the artist/fan relationship, and knowing when to give up.
It is deeply moving, poetic, and ambitious. If you're curious, I strongly encourage you to take an hour sometime and just dive into it.
In a way, AFUT mirrors Kid A by Radiohead. When the band released OK Computer in 1997, it received universal acclaim and is still considered one of the best albums of all time. How do you follow up with that?
Leader Thom Yorke fell into a deep depression and almost stopped making music. They eventually released Kid A three years later. The album also deals with the same feelings, and I recommend it as well.
