Isaac Wood, frontman of English rock outfit Black Country, New Road, has announced his plans to leave the group today (January 31).

The news comes just days before the group's highly anticipated sophomore album  Ants From Up There is set to be released on February 4.

While the remaining six members will continue performing together as a collective, their upcoming shows have been cancelled in light of Wood's departure. The cancelled appearances include a night at Dublin's 3Olympia Theatre on April 11, a US tour scheduled for February and all remaining UK dates.

"I have bad news which is that I have been feeling sad and afraid too," Wood wrote in a statement posted across the band's social media pages. "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."

 

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The band added: "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."

The group was originally set to hit the road on a UK and Ireland tour last November before cancelling due to an "ongoing illness" within the group.

Black Country, New Road released their debut LP, For The First Time, last February. Their efforts won them a Mercury Prize nomination in 2020.

Their unique blend of post-rock, punk and jazz earned them acclaim from both fans and critics alike. The group adds to their distinctive sound by combining classically trained and self-taught players creating a hybrid of precise skill and raw unpredictability.

A few singles off their second album have already been released, including the sombre yet arresting 'Snow Globes.'

The group's follow up album will be released via Ninja Tune despite of Woods' departure.

Listen to Black Country, New Road's latest single below.