If there’s one sure fire way to win my heart – and earn a spot on my best videos list – it’s through stop motion animation. I just adore the tactile, tangible nature to it. The sheer amount of effort and dedication that goes into every frame. In an age of instant gratification, there’s something endearing about a craft that has so much time and consideration invested in it. The charmingly spooky video for ‘Happy Birthday’, which weaves a tale of two bird folk trying to escape a pair of hunters, offers a prime example. Intricate, meticulous, outlandish, beautiful, a little dark but otherwise full of heart – sounds like a perfect fit for Black Country, New Road. The track itself, a taster of their forthcoming album Forever Howlong out 4th April, feels like the band properly finding their footing again after the departure of Isaac Wood. Tyler Hyde’s vocals are bright and assured, Lewis Evans’ soaring sax more rousing than ever, all interwoven with an undercurrent of progressive folk that leaves me excited to hear what the rest of BCNR’s new record has in store.