I've been crying to "Nancy Tries to Take the Night" from Black Country, New Road's newest album, 'Forever Howlong' all night. The instrumentation alone --- before you hear any lyrics --- is enough to lull me into a sigh. A triple time sway, woven into a tapestry of plucked string polyphony, rolls like galloping waves through my chest. I drink in how human the performance feels: you can hear the slight muffle of imperfect fretting or the slide of a fingering. You can feel the sensation of time almost like breathing as the plucked strings phase in and out of counterpoint.
The overall structure fascinates me. (I'm reminded a bit of Ravel's Bolero.) As more instruments come in, the song grows noticeably in urgency with each section, for instance when the drums come in and the time feel shifts. Or how Tyler Hyde's voice settles into her chest as the song progresses, fuller, more grounded, more urgent. Repeated lyrics take on different meaning as the landscape of the song shifts. On initial listens, the whole thing washed over me as one stream of consciousness. But upon closer listens, some transitions can feel like a heel-face-turn. An abrupt shift in thought and energy, like stepping on the breaks, almost stopping entirely (but never fully) before picking up speed again. Make no mistake, i think this is a strength. Musically, the song feels like we're running the whole time. There's a sensation we're being chased but not knowing what we're running from or if there's anything there at all. we might slow for a moment to catch a breath or pivot into a side alley, but we keep moving.
I'd like to highlight when the whole band finds unity just to highlight "mother will you take me." Finding a moment for the band to pull back before breaking into a sprint again. It feels reminiscent of something between a lullaby and a tragic ballad. Hyde's performance --- especially the decorations on the last repeat --- breaks me every time. Singing along feels like drinking tears.