Some debuts announce a band’s arrival; others feel like a culmination of something bigger. The High Nines’ self-titled first album does both. Thirteen tracks long and brimming with confidence, it’s the sound of a North West five-piece who understand the weight of the region’s musical history but refuse to be crushed by it. Instead, they build on it — echoing The Verve’s widescreen melancholy, The Music’s pulse, The Stone Roses’ groove and hazy swagger, and yes, even the Beatles’ melodic fearlessness and psychedelia.
From the outset, “Let The World Decide” makes it clear this isn’t a record to drift by unnoticed. Its sharp riffs and soaring chorus feel like an overture for the album’s intent: this is music made for communal spaces, for clubs, festivals, and arenas. There’s a rawness to the vocals, a plea wrapped in swagger, that immediately grips.
That energy flows into “Daydreaming”, a tighter, dreamier cut that balances groove and melody, hinting at their softer psych-indie leanings without losing momentum. That contrasts with “Things You Do”, a tighter, sharper anthem bristling with energy, all wiry guitars and infectious hooks. It’s pure dancefloor indie, cut from the same cloth as the Roses at their most kinetic and possesses the kind of lyrics that feel instantly relatable at 2am.
The darker “Not Worth The Flame” brings weight and tension. The guitar tones shimmer with Verve-like grandeur, but lyrically it stares straight at the shadows. This is a band unafraid to flirt with heaviness, and it pays off.
Then comes “Stay For A Lifetime”, a ballad with enough melodic sweep to make the Beatles comparisons unavoidable. Its chorus feels timeless, its sentiment universal — a track destined to soundtrack a thousand festival sunsets.
Then comes “Walrus Bar”, the breakthrough single that hit Number 6 on the iTunes Alternative Chart, and with good reason. It’s packed with hypnotic basslines, swaggering grooves and Beatles-esque harmonies. The title alone nods to a certain Mancunian eccentricity, but the execution is pure High Nines: sharp, confident, unforgettable.
From there, the album’s heart opens wider. “People You Love” blends melody with reflective lyricism and possesses the power of Verve’s Northern Soul album, and proves they can do tenderness without losing momentum.
“I Can’t Find My Way” is drenched in psychedelic textures — echoing vocals, drifting guitars, the kind of tune that lets the band’s influences shine without sounding derivative.
“18 And Over” isn’t just a throwaway anthem — it’s a coming-of-age snapshot, equal parts grit and vulnerability. Driven by a rolling groove and sharp guitar lines, it captures that restless transition between youth and adulthood, where nights out blur into mornings after and freedom collides with consequence. It’s not about bravado, but about capturing a moment in time — the energy of being young, unfiltered, and unafraid.
“Something About You” veers into shoegaze territory, wrapping the listener in layered ringing guitars and drifting, vocals tat give the song a dreamlike quality.
“Heart Of Stone” is four minutes of brooding grandeur, its bassline heavy and unflinching, balanced by soaring vocal lines that pierce through the haze.
“Love Struck” lifts the mood — part jangly indie, part psych-pop shimmer — with a groove and beats that sound right out of the Roses playbook. It’s a track that feels like it was written to be sung with arms aloft. And then comes “The Last Time.” At over five minutes, it’s a closing epic that ties the whole record together: atmospheric, layered, swelling until it bursts, LennonIt’s not just a goodbye, it’s a promise of what’s to come.
Across these 13 songs, what’s striking is the balance between homage and originality. You hear The Roses in their grooves, The Verve in their expansiveness, The Beatles in their melodic instinct — but it never slips into imitation. Instead, it feels like inheritance. The High Nines take the lineage of Northern indie and psych, and bend it into something that feels built for 2025 and beyond.
This debut isn’t just a strong start. It’s the kind of record that could cement The High Nines as one of the most important new bands in the UK — a group with the songs, swagger and soul to step up from sticky-floored clubs to the festival main stages.
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