Glasgow based band The Ninth Wave today shared their new single and video Maybe You Didn’t Know, another taster of what to expect from their next LP.
The video, directed by Rianne White opens with bassist and singer Millie Kidd taming a wolf atop a deserted parking lot, before the four-piece are dropped into what the band describe a surreal, yet cohesive Tokyo Drift dream; bringing the Scottish subculture of underground drifting to the forefront.
The new single follows The Ninth Wave’s Faris Badwan (The Horrors)-produced EP ‘Happy Days!’ and their AIM Award and Scottish Album of the Year-nominated debut album ‘Infancy’.
A hypnotic swirl of industrial electronica, emotive-pop and potent art rock – Maybe You Didn’t Know arguably stands as the band’s most compelling release to date.
Speaking on the song’s meaning, singer and guitarist Hadyn Park-Patterson said: “The song is about finding comfort in the uncomfortable and being able to hide yourself behind an overbearing and engulfing undefined fear.” Watch the video clip via YouTube below.
Produced by the band themselves and mixed by Max Hayes, Maybe You Didn’t Know opens a new chapter in The Ninth Wave’s already exciting story. Spiralling atmospherics and intense percussion open proceedings, before the dust settles into subtle keys and Haydn Park-Patterson’s rasping Glaswegian tones, finally breaking out into its formidable chorus.
Park-Patterson went on to recall the initial inspiration behind the lyrics: “The first verse of the song comes from daydreaming. I was out walking on a day that the rain that had been unrelenting until it briefly subsided and made it possible to get out and go for a wander. I was staring at a burn that was flowing much more forcefully than it usually would. The frantic and panicked movement of the water reminded me of a time that I was in the middle of a fox-hunting-sabotage. The fox was darting across the field just beyond where I was standing and the blood thirsty hounds were bolting fast right behind it. The water reminded me of this fox and the panic with which it ran. Standing in the middle of the road with my eyes and thoughts lost in the babble of the water, I couldn’t help but feel an affinity with the fox as I imagined the burn bursting its banks and the water gushing out and striking me up off of the ground. The feeling of fear and contentment about this situation were in equilibrium.”
Sonically, the band are challenging expectations. Pushing their sound into exciting new territory, the band’s forthcoming material leans more toward influence from contemporaries such as Massive Attack, Young Fathers, Mount Kimbie and Portishead – whilst retaining 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 sadness”, 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 Ninth Wave are: Millie Kidd (bass, vocals), Haydn Park-Patterson (guitar, vocals), Kyalo Searle-Mbullu (keys) and Calum Stewart (drums).
Maybe You Didn’t Know is out now via Distiller Records.
2021 Tour dates + tickets
OCTOBER
6 – Newcastle, St Doms
8 – London, Omeara
9 – Brighton, The Hope & Ruin
10 – Birmingham, Mama Roux’s
19 – Aberdeen, Tunnels The Deaf Institute
20 – Dundee, Church
21 – Glasgow, Oran Mor (Sold Out)
22 – Glasgow, Oran Mor
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