One of the most fascinating up-and-coming acts around has lost a core member: London seven-piece Black Country, New Road announced on Monday morning that frontman Isaac Wood has left the band. Black Country, New Road will continue on with its remaining members, but they have canceled upcoming tour dates in support of their second album Ants From Up There, which comes out this Friday, Feb. 4.
“Hello everyone, I have bad news which is that I have been feeling sad and afraid too. And I have tried to make this not true, but it is the kind of sad and afraid feeling that makes it hard to play guitar and sing at the same time,” Wood explains in a statement accompanying the band’s announcement. “Together we have been writing songs and then performing them, which at times has been an incredible doing, but more now everything happens that I am feeling not so great and it means from now I won’t be a member of the group anymore.”
“To be clear: this is completely in spite of six of the greatest people I know, who were and are wonderful in a sparkling way,” he continues. “If you are reading this maybe you would have seen some of that. It has been a great pleasure and I would like to say the words ‘Thank You’ to everyone.” Wood ends his statement with a Futurama quote about Professor Farnsworth’s Fing-Longer.
Reached by Paste for further information on Wood’s departure, a rep for the band had none to add.
“Sadly, these circumstances mean we are having to cancel The Roundhouse show next week, the U.S. tour and the April tour,” the band announced. “We’re sorry to let you down and that we won’t be able to perform our new album for you—we are all immensely proud of it and hope that you enjoy Ants From Up There nonetheless.”
Black Country, New Road had been set to kick off their first-ever North American headlining tour this month, with a significant chunk of the run already sold-out.
As for the band’s future, they noted, “Although Isaac won’t be part of the group any longer, the rest of us will be continuing to make music together as Black Country, New Road. In fact, we’ve already starting working on it.
“The things we’ll miss about working with Isaac are too many and various to list here, but by listening to the music we made together, I’m sure you’ll understand at least a few of them. It’d be difficult to overstate how much our experiences as a group have affected us. In fact, it’s difficult to say anything at all coherent about what we’ve managed to do. But it has certainly been the greatest privilege to do it all together, as seven friends.”
They conclude, “We hope to update you all on new music and everything that goes along with that (shows included) pretty soon.”
Revisit Black Country, New Road’s Ants From Up There singles below, and stay tuned for further coverage of the album’s release this week.
[Note: This story has been updated to include the response from BC,NR’s rep.]
