Glasgow’s The Ninth Wave release new single “Piece and Pound Coins”, a new taster of their next full length body of work, due 2022. By Craig Chisholm.
A compelling piece, “Piece and Pound Coins” was produced by the band themselves and mixed by Max Heyes (Massive Attack, Doves, Lucia & The Best Boys, Primal Scream). Amidst a distinctly chilling atmosphere, rolling piano lines weave their way through chugging percussion with the track standing as a stark examination of grief and loss.
Speaking on the release of “Piece and Pound Coins”, singer Haydn Park-Patterson said:
“I wrote this song about a friend who passed away a number of years ago. I’ve never really felt like I wanted to/could write about him for a number of reasons, but I guess the main one was because that for a long time, I wouldn’t have known what to write.
“Writing about death is a world away from writing about heartache/love/friendships because there’s nobody to listen to the song and wonder “is that about me?”.
“It’s a strange feeling, to write a song about someone that you know can’t ever hear it. The song also touches on the thought of wondering what he’d be up to now, 5 years on in his life, and how weird a thought it is that we’ve all continued on with our lives but his had a start and end point, and that’s it. No more memories to be made.
“The song also lets out a bit of confused anger that I felt not long after he passed, as I watched how a few people reacted to his death and the way in which they talked about it. That’s the meaning behind the line ‘death makes some people sad and some people ugly / and some people took your name for their own sake’.
“I like to think that he’d like the song, as he was one of the most supportive and positive-minded people I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing.”
The track has been released alongside a stunning video directed by Rianne White. She commented:
“I feel completely in awe of this song and Haydn’s ability to frame such an immense feeling. Embraced by the catharsis of nature, the heights of grief and identity are expressed through a journey of Haydn’s internal growth accompanied by a symbolically poignant lone wolf.
I like to think of Hayden and the wolf as one, both finding their way back to their truest states of being with wild untamed hearts of companionship and eternal loyalty. “
The new single arrives off the back of the band’s recent singles ‘Everything Will Be Fine’ and ‘Maybe You Didn’t Know’; their Faris Badwan (The Horrors)-produced EP ‘Happy Days!’ (2020) and their AIM Award and Scottish Album of the Year-nominated debut album Infancy (2019).
Constantly developing and pushing their sound into exciting new territory, sonically The Ninth Wave are challenging expectations and preconceptions of their music with this new material.
Leaning toward influence from contemporaries such as Massive Attack, Young Fathers, Mount Kimbie and Portishead – the quartet assuredly retain their own distinct songwriting craft and approach.
Lyrically the new material also promises to be more upfront than ever before.
Celebrating honesty and real life, The Ninth Wave want their listeners to find comfort in their music. They want their fans to feel safe; to be confident in who they are, and to know they’re not alone with their feelings and anxieties.
“It’s a cathartic thing for both us and the listeners; we want to help with normalising being emotional and finding comfort within your stadness”, the band went on to say.
The Ninth Wave are widely praised across the board from The Guardian to Wonderland Magazine, NME, Dork Magazine, DIY Magazine and more – with radio support from BBC Radio 1 (Jack Saunders, Huw Stephens, Phil Taggart and Abbie McCarthy), BBC 6 Music (Steve Lamacq), and Radio X (John Kennedy).
Elsewhere the band’s music has been remixed by The Horrors, Dream Wife, The Twilight Sad, Mogwai, Low Spirits and Working Mens Club, along with tours and shows with Editors, Pussy Riot, CHVRCHES, Franz Ferdinand, Suede, The Magic Gang, Yonaka, and The Blinders.
The band play a date at Aberdeen Tunnels on 19th October.
Tickets are available here.
Band Website – https://theninthwave.online
Watch, “Piece and Pound Coins”: https://youtu.be/Sods9jZatuw
Stream, “Piece and Pound Coins”: https://theninthwave.lnk.to/PAPC
By Craig Chisholm.
By Craig Chisholm.
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