7/10

There is no doubt that double albums have become a huge fad throughout 2019. With acts like Foals, Marina. Vampire Weekend and dozens more all getting in on the action, the idea of creating two conflicting and yet sprawling collections of work has been the industry response to the rise of streaming. Ultimately creating more material to double your chances of gathering that sweet Spotify commission. But for The Ninth Wave, they simply chose to split their debut album 'Infancy' in two, delivering the first half in April and the other half now, creating a record that simply comes in to finish off where the first one started.

It certainly is a unusual decision to come to, but what it means is we are getting to experience their music through two different mindsets. While the first part of 'Infancy' arrived during the shift into summertime, we were hearing them through a lens of new beginnings, acting as the soundtrack to our shared joy of a new bright and uplifting season arriving. While this subsequent addition comes to us as the nights get shorter and the weather colder, making it feel far more despondent than we remember it being, and ultimately delivering a collection that caps of the cycle of emotions we have been experiencing all year.

It may be an unconventional way in which to release an album, but that should not take anything away from the music. 'Infancy' is a bold, fresh and imaginative album that very rarely falters and creates a bold and fascinating aesthetic that we feel the band have not finished exploring.