London art rock septet Black Country, New Road have parted company with singer Isaac Wood. The band broke the news earlier today via their Facebook page.
"I have bad news which is that I have been feeling sad and afraid too,” Wood said in a statement. “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. 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. 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.”
The remaining members have committed to continuing in Wood's absence, but have cancelled next week's Roundhouse show and upcoming touring plans.
“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,” the band have said. “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.”
Black Country, New Road are on the verge of releasing their second album Ants From Up There which is due to be released through Ninja Tune on February 4. The band have released videos for Concord and Bread Song.
