The Ninth Wave release their new LP, Heavy Like a Headache, via Distiller Records. This is the band's second full length album following their 2019 debut Infancy which garnered widespread critical acclaim and nominations for the AIM Award Album Of The Year and Scottish Album of the Year...

Heavy Like a Headache leans, unashamedly, on the shoulders of '80s new wave pop. It's an upbeat, joyous celebration of the past, with one foot planted here in the modern world.

The Ninth Wave refuse to be pigeonholed, having been labelled many things in their time – post-punk, electro-pop, indie – but what really drives them is a desire to break free from these loose categorisations altogether. Put there's no escaping that they owe a debt of gratitude to bands of the past.

For those of us who lived through the '80s this is a lovingly crafted retro album that doesn't disappoint.

7

Nick Smithson