Holly Head have today released their new video and single titled ‘I’ve Had Want’. Holly Head are doing that thing where a band refuses to sit still long enough for you to neatly categorize them, which is either very annoying or exactly what makes them interesting depending on how attached you are to your labels. Their new track ‘I’ve Had Want’ arrives like a familiar argument delivered in a new tone of voice. Still sharp, still politically aware, but now wearing something a bit more reflective than their usual clenched jaw intensity.
Musically, this is where things get fun. The rhythm section does most of the emotional heavy lifting, especially the bass, which does not behave like it is supposed to stay in the background. It prowls forward, nudging the track into motion while the drums keep everything taut and slightly restless. The guitars feel less like shattered glass and more like shifting light, still edgy but willing to let melody in without demanding permission first.
Lyrically, the song sits in that uncomfortable space where frustration with the world starts to bleed into personal fatigue. It is about depression, numbness, and the way bigger systems of inequality and cruelty do not stay politely in the background of your thoughts. Instead of collapsing under that weight, the track turns it into something strangely fluid, like the feeling itself is being examined from multiple angles at once rather than shouted at a brick wall.
What stands out most is how the band allows themselves more air this time. Holly Head have built a reputation on urgency and bite, but here they loosen their grip just enough to let melody and atmosphere creep in without losing any bite. You can hear echoes of late night experimental textures and groove driven alternative traditions, but it never feels like pastiche. It feels more like a band expanding their vocabulary while refusing to become polite about it.
By the time the track finishes, it leaves behind a strange mix of satisfaction and unease, which is honestly a strong sign they are doing it right. This is not a reinvention moment so much as a widening of the frame. Holly Head are still loud, still political, still wired with intent, but now they sound like they are learning how to breathe inside the chaos instead of just shouting over it.
About Holly Head
Holly Head’s credentials as purveyors of visceral, politico-punk founded on contagious grooves meet sonic evolution on I’ve Had Want, the four-piece’s fourth single. Following a hugely successful UK tour earlier this year as main support to Westside Cowboy, the band returns with a track that balances familiar rhythmic imperative and socio-political weight with moments of their own, classic indie proclivities.
I’ve Had Want represents a glimpse into a more forgiving and melodic shade of patiently hewn songcraft usually hidden within an otherwise frenetic setlist, co-written again by Westside Cowboy’s drummer, and former Holly Head lead guitarist, Paddy Murphy. Holly Head’s February single, No Country Is An Island, was birthed from the same enduringly close artistic and personal link between the two bands.
Known for pasting political dissent over danceable basslines, pummeling drums, scuzzy guitars and brutally candid vocals, Holly Head’s experimentations with lighter sonic shades come without sacrificing intensity. Uninterested in specifically “poppifying” their sound, they nevertheless strive to dilute frustration and anxiety in the atmospheric pull of both verse-chorus-verse songwriting and sample-led alternative music.
Singer and lyricist, Joe says: “It can take a heavy toll on your mental health to process all the negative emotions we feel about the inequality and suffering we see around the world. Our anger shouldn’t be repressed though, and we still feel we must continue to tackle the same issues we’ve talked about in the past. The music is different on this track, but it’s still about wealth inequality, racial hate and animal rights to name a few but, this time, it’s through a wider range of emotions than solely anger.”
Feeling their way around inspirational touchpoints including UNKLE, DJ Shadow, Tricky and Cornershop alongside the band’s stated interests in Wu-Lu, Happy Mondays, Kokoroko, Fugazi and Fela Kuti, I’ve Had Want emerged from a dreamy, late-night demo Joe and bassist Liam broke out together.
Liam’s melodic, forward-facing bass work has become one of the band’s defining traits. Long before Holly Head became an amalgamation of shared influences and ideas, the nimble and creative bassist’s formative inspirations came from bassists such as Peter Hook, Mani and Nikolai Fraiture. While New Order, Stone Roses and The Strokes’ songs aren’t often counted in as present day fixtures on Holly Head’s tour van playlist, each musician’s innovation in putting bass guitar to the front of the mix and letting the heavier strings lead a song’s melody counts as a debt the band are pushing to repay in their own music.
Holly Head’s growing reputation as one of Manchester’s most vital underground bands has been built through relentless live performances and support slots alongside not only Westside Cowboy, but the likes of Sprints and Welly. Their frenetic debut single, No Gain, has already achieved cult status within grassroots guitar circles and earned the band a BBC 6 Music New Music Fix live session in late 2024.
Featured image by Akoustik Anarkhy.