PALE WAVES make their hotly anticipated return with news of their fourth album Smitten, to be released on 20 September via Dirty Hit. The band have also shared Perfume, the lead single from the album, premiered as the BBC Radio 1 Hottest Record.
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 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 Manchester.
Lyrically, the record is preoccupied with past lives – some more recent than others. Singer Heather Baron-Gracie 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.”
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”.
Speaking about Perfume, Heather says: “It’s the perfect introduction into the new world we’ve created. It’s queer, it’s feminine and it’s romantic, and it encapsulates the essence of Smitten.”
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
Pale Waves are currently on the road in the US on a full tour support with PVRIS. The band will return to the UK for a handful of festival performances at Y Not, Kendal Calling and Neighbourhood.
JUNE
Fri 14 INDIANAPOLIS, IN Egyptian Room @ Old National Centre *
Sat 15 CHICAGO, IL House Of Blues *
Sun 16 DETROIT, MI St Andrew’s Hall *
Wed 19 TORONTO, ON The Danforth Music Hall *
Fri 21 BOSTON, MA House of Blues *
Sat 22 PHILADELPHIA, PA Theatre of Living Arts *
Mon 24 NEW YORK, NY Irving Plaza *
Wed 26 WASHINGTON, DC 9:30 Club *
Fri 28 NASHVILLE,TN Brooklyn Bowl *
Sat 29 ATLANTA, GA The Masquerade Heaven *
JULY
Mon 01 ST PETERSBURG, FL Jannus Live *
Sat 06 AUSTIN, TX Emo’s Austin *
Sun 07 DALLAS, TX House of Blues Cambridge Room *
Tue 09 PHOENIX, AZ The Van Burn *
Wed 10 SAN DIEGO, CA The Observatory North *
Fri 12 LOS ANGELES, CA The Wiltern *
Sat 20 SPAIN Benicassim Festival
AUGUST
Sat 03 DERBYSHIRE Y Not Festival
Sun 04 KENDAL Calling Festival
OCTOBER
Sat 05 MANCHESTER Neighbourhood Festival
with PVRIS *
Photo credit – Kelsi Luck