The Ninth Wave – Heavy Like a Headache

The Ninth Wave have long had the allure of a band who know exactly what they are and what they want to do. On album two, this has never felt more certain. Heavy Like a Headache continues their trend of seamlessly evading specific genrefication, and smacks of a band energised by and confident in their art. They retain that unique, almost Joy Division-like quality of creating tracks that are both darkly gloomy and yet joyously sway-worthy, while instrumentally and sonically, more developed and congruous electronic nuances lace the record together with a shiny silk thread. 

Lyrically, there's a fresh air of vulnerability and personability too, as inward reflections indicate a newfound openness to depict difficult, personal perceptions and feelings – be that of anxiety (Maybe You Didn’t Know), shedding a shame that was never yours (What Makes You a Man), or loss (Piece and Pound Coins), piecing together a cathartic puzzle in the hope of achieving self-acceptance.

Heavy Like a Headache feels like the natural next step and successor to Infancy and Happy Days! Expanding on both to enhance their playfully experimental and yet confident, brooding sound, it strengthens their status as one of Scotland’s most exciting bands.

Listen to: Maybe You Didn’t Know, The Morning Room, Everything Will Be Fine