In September, we interviewed The Ninth Wave's Haydn Park-Patterson when only a few singles from Heavy Like A Headache had been released. The conversation revealed that this eclectic four-piece with very different musical influences, weren't interested in going over old ground for their new album. Nor were they particularly fussed about chasing any one signature sound or vision.

Heavy Like A Headache, the band's second collection, fully delivers on those promises. Written, performed and produced by Park-Patterson, Millie Kidd, Kyalo Searle-Mbullu and Calum Stewart, the 15 tracks breathe emotional truth into stories about relationships, loneliness and mental health with musical range and lyrical prowess. A patchwork of indie rock, post-punk and bedroom pop manages to authentically communicate the chaos, excitement and psychological reality of life through the lens of a sentimental twentysomething. If this does turn out to be their swansong (recent reports talk of an 'extended break'), at least they're leaving us on a high.

After the lulling 'Intro', we're greeted with the steady and uplifting kick drum of the single 'Maybe You Didn't Know', before continuing the indie-rock mood for 'Heron On The Water' and 'Hard Not To Hold You', all sung by Park-Patterson. Despite their vulnerable and tender lyrics ('I was born with a lump in my throat'/'You could never give back what you stole, a heavy heart and a fractured soul'/'I'd like to know when you've finished your thoughts, it's not easy feeling helpless'), the album's first half takes on an anthemic quality, similar to parts of their 2019 debut Infancy.

By contrast, the industrial drill sounds and heavy battle drums in 'These Depopulate Hours' foreshadows the record's darker second half, where themes of masculinity and abuse of power arise in songs such as 'What Makes You A Man' and album closer 'Song For Leaving'. That lulling piano returns (and will again) to pull listeners out of the nightmare and into the album's finest moment, 'The Morning Room'.

Layered harmonies and production come to the forefront of this crescendo-filled song, and a clever use of silence (heard throughout the album to punctuate their loud and droney soundscapes) give the heavy words space to be processed. 'Piece And Pound Coins' brings us back into the world of indie rock but with more edge this time. Smashing bottle sounds accompany the lyric 'push a pram over broken glass' (reminiscent of Billie Eilish's 'Bad Guy') which then leads into the title track, a visceral, hypnotising waltz which crosses into a 'sad girl' indie sphere.

Where The Ninth Wave succeed in remaining genre-less, they don't always triumph in creating sonic cohesion. But what really binds their songs together is that place of sadness and sincerity from which they're sung. Particularly poignant moments come from Millie Kidd's raw lead vocals on tracks like 'What Makes You A Man', 'Heavy Like A Headache' and 'Song For Leaving'. And it's these deeply emotive moments that make Heavy Like A Headache the band's most bold and refined album to date.

The Ninth Wave: Heavy Like A Headache is released by Distiller Records on Friday 18 March; the band play Glasgow QMU on Saturday 19 March.