Comic Book Therapy, By Head-Ache Official: Pre-Release Review

Head-Ache Official takes a break from his usual brand to create a more calm, melodic composition. The production, shared between Tom Did It and Head-Ache is extremely impressive - the pair, given their limited resources, managed to create a contemporary masterpiece, in “Comic Book Therapy”.

Head-Ache begins his Comic Book Therapy with “City Lights”, where he continues his typical emo-rap aesthetic. Head-Ache describes his negative emotions while also showing how he likes to cope with feeling out of control, showing Head-Ache’s desire to break free from his own mental state. The song forces the listener to see a new side of Head-Ache - while talking about mental health he shows a sign of compassion and love while looking past his irrational coping mechanisms, however, it seems Head-Ache has found a healthier, more effective coping mechanism, in making music. This provides listeners with a seamless transition to the next song on Comic Book Therapy.

Home describes Head-Ache’s true, unadulterated, raw emotions. Head-Ache monologues in this track, creating a smooth-flowing insight into his brain; Head-Ache does this by letting his audience inside his head for a brief moment, before polluting his thoughts with what he would rather be thinking about. However, the return of Head-Ache’s true state of mind is inevitable. The repetition of “Home’s” catchy chorus represents Head-Ache’s desperation to leave home - showing a strong contrast from the simple nature of the song’s title. HA feels the need for him to leave home is imperative to feel as though he has escaped his thoughts and pressures; this is a factor he appears to be driven by.

Head-Ache deviates slightly from his preferred genre of emo music, to create a funk type beat, cleverly paired with his trademark; emo-rap vocals, in “Mixed Emotions”. Head-Ache describes his process of losing touch with his emotions, and explains that music has been a crutch for him outside of relationships, but in his life as a whole. His beautifully tragic observation tells the short story of the after-effects of a breakup, where Head-Ache loses track of what he should be feeling and slowly starts to give up. It is apparent in this song that HA has lost the effort required to care about almost everything, and is struggling to find what he truly cares for - as we all know, nothing can rival these feelings.

The penultimate track of Comic Book Therapy is a melodic harmony he dubbed “Spaceship” - describing his romantic obsession. Upon the early stages of creating “Spaceship”, HA and his producer, TomDidIt, found themselves under alcohol’s heavy influence. Nonetheless, through experimenting with chords, HA stumbled across some mismatched chords, that if played separately from the beat as a whole would have sounded as though they didn’t go together, therefore creating “Spaceship”. Head-Ache strings together an impressive first verse, expressing his deep love and dependence on an unknown person. Head-Ache has an impressive talent for creating a catchy hook; he does so on “Spaceship”, by pairing his powerful attention-snatching beat with an encapsulating part of the story he is telling - engrossing the listener further and further into the song. Head-Ache’s melodies sit in perfect harmony with his lyrics, and his tone of voice in which he delivers them. HA originally wanted the song to paint a picture in his listener’s minds, and I feel he has managed to do this exceptionally. I strongly believe that this is Head-Ache’s most brilliant and professional work yet, and definitely worth the risk of becoming obsessed with him and the rest of his music.

Head-Ache concludes Comic Book Therapy with his next track - “Lonely” - describing his emotions while shielding himself from all friends and family, showing a curiously sad display of pain and empathy. Around Christmas time, HA had to isolate for roughly a month to protect his at-risk father. For this month he spent his time all alone in the annexe of his home, longing to feel the underappreciated human touch once again - not to mention emotional contact. He suffered from a loss of productivity, a feeling of separation from the outside world Head-Ache provides his audience with a small insight as to his prolonged pain as he slowly starts to accept that he cannot change the inevitable, and makes an effort to understand and accept this fact.” Head-Ache shows a caring display of appreciation and pity in this song, in an attempt to share his pain with the world so that the pressure upon him is lessened.

With Comic Book Therapy, Head-Ache has created a direct gateway into his mind for his fans, assisted by TomDidIt - a close friend for many years now. As a whole, Comic Book Therapy deserves all the praise bound to come it’s way - Head Ache has managed to create a diverse and incommensurable collection of new music for his fans, both new and old. Head-Ache has taken the leap to create his most professional project yet, and after seeing his progress over the years, I am certain there will be much more brilliance coming his way. Credit where credit is due, Head-Ache has done exceptionally, and I - amongst many others - cannot wait to see what he does next.