PALE WAVES have released their new single and video, Thinking About You, taken from the band’s forthcoming new album Smitten, to be released via Dirty Hit on 27 September.
Thinking About You is another masterclass in wistful dream pop from Pale Waves accompanied by a scenic one shot music video that follows frontwoman Heather Baron-Gracie as she laments a past relationship and considers what remains in its wake.
Speaking about the track, Heather says: “Thinking About You is about a situation when someone leaves and you can’t quite fully move on yet. You know you should and that it will be better for you in the long run, but it’s harder and more painful than it seems.”
Written between the US and UK over a two year period, Smitten finds the band reflecting upon their Northern roots. Deviating from the rebellious pop punk sound of the 2022 album Unwanted, this new record is full of vivid, earwormy hooks, thwacking snares and jangly alt-pop that sounds fresh out of their home city of Manchester.
Lyrically, the record is preoccupied with past lives – some more recent than others. Heather found herself in a headspace where she could finally breathe and reflect, like peeling through the pages of a long-forgotten teenage diary and being surprised by what she found.
‘I found myself writing about not just a certain time period, but my whole life from years ago,” says Heather. “When I fall in love, I fall deep, and it’s interesting to me that you can feel so fascinated and smitten with someone and then they can become a total stranger. So I feel like Smitten really summarised perfectly what I felt for others at a certain point.”
SMITTEN TRACK LIST
Glasgow
Not a Love Song
Gravity
Thinking About You
Perfume
Last Train Home
Kiss Me Again
Miss America
Hate to Hurt You
Seeing Stars
Imagination
Slow
Pre-order / Pre-save Smitten here: https://palewaves.ffm.to/smitten
So much of Smitten captures the excitement and euphoria of early queer relationships, some of which comes alongside confusion and pain. On lead single Perfume, an infectious 1980s-leaning anthem reminiscent of bands like The Cure and The Cranberries, Heather sings about being totally enamoured with a person: “My mother says that when I want something I never let go / Call me obsessed but I don’t mind just as long as it’s all mine”.
OCTOBER
Thu 03 NORWICH Waterfront
Fri 04 LIVERPOOL O2 Academy
Sat 05 MANCHESTER Neighbourhood Festival
Sun 06 NOTTINGHAM Rock City
Tue 08 BRIGHTON Chalk
Wed 09 BRISTOL O2 Academy
Thu 10 SHEFFIELD Foundry
Fri 11 DUNDEE Fat Sams
Sun 13 GLASGOW SWG3
Mon 14 NEWCASTLE Boiler Shop
Tue 15 BIRMINGHAM O2 Institute
Thu 17 LONDON HERE @ Outernet (Sold Out)
Fri 18 LONDON HERE @ Outernet
Tickets available from: https://palewaves.co.uk/live/
Photo credit – Niall Lea