The Ones Ahead

Glenn-Copeland wrote "Harbour" for his wife Elizabeth Paddon, while "Stand Anthem" was inspired by a play written by his wife titled Bearing Witness.[2] "Africa Calling" was inspired by West African drumming and conversations Glenn-Copeland has had with "members of the African diaspora" about the "need to explore and express our heritage".[1]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	81/100[3]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Pitchfork	8.0/10[4]
The Skinny	[5]

The Ones Ahead received a score of 81 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on six critics' reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[3] Uncut stated that "throughout all nine songs, Glenn-Copeland's voice seems to exist on the eternal plane, powerful and vulnerable in equal measure, an elder sharing his knowledge in stirring sonic form",[3] while The Wire noted that "the album's stylistic breadth and the cinematic sweep of its production add up to a more polished version of the anthemic, collaborative sound cultivated on the tour, heard on his 2020 Live at Le Guess Who? 2018 album".[3] Mojo described that its elements of "warbling soul, classical lieder, No Other's stage-musical rapture, the title track's echo of Copeland's 1986 New-Age-synth album Keyboard Fantasies [are] all united by his seemingly unshakeable belief in humanity".[3]

The Skinny's Marco Marcelline found there to be "just so many stand-outs here" and remarked that the album "carries a resolute message of hope for the world, backed up by Glenn-Copeland's evident wisdom".[5] Reviewing the album for Pitchfork, Jesse Dorris called The Ones Ahead "a joyous, hope-filled showcase of his singular voice and healing vision", as well as "a remarkably assured statement of purpose" and "a staging ground for his vision and his voice".[4]