Manchester’s spunky dream pop band Pale Waves announced plans to release their fourth studio album, in a post on their Instagram which you can view below. Smitten will hit steaming services in autumn on the 20th of September from the independent record label Dirty Hit. Alongside the announcement, they have also released a 80s influenced, queer, haunting pop song called ‘Perfume’.
According to front woman Heather-Baron-Gracie, ‘Perfume’ is “the perfect introduction into the new world we’ve created”. It’s an infectious track heavily inspired by bands like The Cranberries and The Cure and just the notion of being head over heels for someone. Try to think back to all the diary entries you wrote as a teenager about your first crush and then plug that straight into an amp then add some gothic undertones and an 80s backing track. You can check out the single along with the music video for ‘Perfume’ below.
It premiered on Wednesday night as BBC Radio 1’s Hottest Record and Baron-Gracie describes the track as “queer, feminine and romantic”. The track feels reminiscent of 80s synth ballads and it seems the band are exploring a new sound that is devoted to the reflective and romantic through the new single and the upcoming album. According to NME, Baron-Gracie noted that she feels she falls very deeply in love and finds it interesting ‘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.”
Pale Waves have also released the album art for the upcoming record which is said to move away from the pop-punk sound of its predecessor, their third album, Unwanted which was released in February 2021, and lean more into the ‘jangly indie pop sound that takes influence from their home city’ according to the article by NME on the new release. Their third album was a huge success debuting at number 4 on the UK Albums Chart and receiving a score of 72 on Metacritic so the band can only hope for an even greater success with Smitten. You can take a look at the artwork for the upcoming album below.
Pale Waves are currently on tour supporting PVRIS and have an exciting few months ahead as they are currently continue playing shows across the US throughout June and into July. They are also heading back to the city that made them, Manchester, to headline Manchester’s Neighbourhood festival in October alongside a number of other acts including Seb Lowe and The Mysterines. You can buy tickets for the day festival, which spreads itself across a number of iconic Manchester venues, from the following websites; Dice, Ticketmaster, Gigs and Tours and See Tickets.
You can check out the full track list for the upcoming album, Smitten, below.
- “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”
