Where the Hurt Still Glows

Highroad No. 28’s new single “Ache” slips under the skin in that slow, deliberate way only a band confident in its own darkness can manage. It’s the kind of track that doesn’t just play in the background — it lingers, sits with you, and stirs up memories you thought you’d neatly filed away. And honestly? That’s exactly where its magic lies.

The band takes their alt-rock foundation and pushes it somewhere deeper this time. The guitars feel almost cinematic, sweeping in with this moody, velvety weight that instantly sets the tone. Beneath it, the bass moves like a quiet pulse — steady, brooding, unhurried. And when the vocals come in, they’re raw in a way that’s intimate without being dramatic. You can hear the restraint, the honesty, that little catch in the emotional fabric.

Recorded at Melbourne’s Sing Sing Studios and shaped with James Taplin’s sharp, immersive mixing, the song has a fullness that wraps around you. It’s darker than their earlier work, sure, but also more refined — like a band stepping into a new chapter with intent rather than experimentation.

What “Ache” captures so well is that paradox of longing: the pain of what’s gone, and the strange, quiet beauty of still feeling its echo. It’s a track for late nights, for anyone who knows what it’s like to sit with their own ghosts — and maybe, just maybe, find comfort in them.