Ants from Up There (stylised as Ants From Up There) is the second studio album by the British rock band Black Country, New Road, released on 4 February 2022 on Ninja Tune. Recorded at Chale Abbey on the Isle of Wight, the album was produced by the band's live sound engineer Sergio Maschetzko, and is the final album to feature lead vocalist and guitarist Isaac Wood, who announced his departure from the band four days prior to the album's release.
Written during COVID-19 lockdowns and road-tested during brief touring stints in support of the debut album, For the First Time (2021), Ants from Up There was released almost exactly a year after the debut, and was preceded by four singles: "Chaos Space Marine", "Bread Song", "Concorde" and "Snow Globes". The band intended to produce the album as a collective body of work, preferring to focus more on vulnerable topics than fictional scenarios and more apathetic lyrics.
The album received unanimous critical acclaim upon its release for its musical evolution, songwriting, and emotional depth, becoming Black Country, New Road's highest-charting album, debuting at number 3 on the UK Albums Chart and reaching the top 10 in Australia, Germany and the Netherlands. A deluxe edition of the album featuring live songs was released four months after.
When I got the opportunity to put up my album, I very nearly chose this one. If I was given the chance again today, I probably would choose this one. I’ve been fortunate enough to see them live twice, I’ve commemorated this album with a tattoo, and I will listen to this almost anytime I have an hour+ drive. Belting out the final lyrics to Basketball Shoes genuinely makes me lightheaded and I assume I will one day die having passed out at the wheel of my car because of it. It will have been worth it.
Yes, brilliant choice. I was completely obsessed with this album when it came out. Isaac leaving the band just before its release only further cemented as an instant cult classic, and it’s easily one of my favourite post-2020 records.
That said, it does cast a long shadow. I love this album so much that post-Isaac BCNR just doesn’t really land for me, it feels like something essential is missing.
Completely new group for me - and very interesting indeed. Lots of interesting instruments including glockenspiel, marimba, mandolin, banjo and flute… they have some interesting arrangements and songs that aren’t always my favorite but keeps it all interesting to me. I was sort of wavering around a 4 rating but then something about “The Place Where He Inserted the Blade” really hooked me and I think was my breakthrough moment when I really turned on to this album.
Different and interesting and worthy of this list.
I remember when this came out, it was everywhere among the indiesphere. It made a bunch of best of lists for 2022. I have to say, I am not the biggest fan of this album and much prefer the follow-up album from them. I don't particularly enjoy the lead singers voice and I'm somewhat on the side of liking that he left before this album came out.
This is a perfect example of an album I fully expect to be in the updated version of the book. It's a critics darling and those really into the indiesphere but I dunno if it'll stand the test of time.
My personal rating: 4/5
My rating relative to the list: 4/5
Should this have been included on the original list? Slight no.
Very good art rock with dense instrumentation and some really solid, emotional lyrics (until it hits you with bullshit like "She had Billie Eilish style"). "The Place Where He Inserted The Blade" is a strong contender for the best song of this decade.
Definitely a worthy 2020s inclusion for the list, even if I personally think their debut is a more musically interesting and tighter package.
I didn't really care for this. The lyrics/vocals vacillated between histrionics and kind of irritating monologuing and the music was underbaked. I didnt despise it or anything but I wasn't sad when it was finished.
I don't get it, I just don't. This LP absolutely dominated the indie scene for over a year when it dropped, and I'm still struggling to understand what people love about it. If the whole album had been similar to 'Basketball Shoes' earthshaking guitar and passion, I probably would've loved it – instead, it's mostly run-of-the-mill singer-songwriter instrumentals that seem afraid of their own shadow, and a lead vocalist who would give any mumble rapper a run for their money. The whole experience feels like the band took way too much Ambien and is stumbling their way around a Walmart while the lead singer talks to himself.
Maybe people were just clamoring for some alto sax? That's the only element that really qualifies this for the 'arthouse' label, otherwise it's just as bland as any other overhyped indie singer-songwriter project. Feel this is one of those albums that whose hype snowballed well beyond its worth and got showered in accolades/adoration in the moment, yet will only be remembered on critic's lists rather than any impact on the scene itself. Given how little fanfare the band's the recent releases have made, it really reminds me of Pinegrove's situation – an absolute sensation in the moment, but now a flash in the pan footnote when compared to the defining albums of the 2010s. There are so many more exciting and innovative albums that have been released this decade which deserve a spotlight here as opposed to whatever this LP is.
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