Album Review: Pale Waves - Who Am I?

Almost three years have passed since the release of My Mind Makes Noises – the commanding debut album from Mancunian quartet Pale Waves.

As BIMM graduates and Dirty Hit label mates of Beabadoobee and The 1975, the guitar-driven band have captured fans worldwide with their searing honesty and nostalgia for early 2000s pop-punk. Not to mention the intoxicating front-woman Heather Baron-Gracie, who combines her trademark goth aesthetic with a flair for writing irresistibly romantic pop tracks. Baron-Gracie formed a musical alliance with drummer Ciara Doran at college, and Pale Waves later became the result. Despite maintaining certain bricks of the walls constructed on Album Number 1, the outfit’s sophomore effort reveals more intimate aspects of themselves as people – most notably in terms of sexuality.

With a legion of diehard fans to feed, the pressure going into Who Am I? was presumably high. The good news is that the record delivers what it promised. There’s the presence of a newfound self-assuredness in Baron-Gracie since coming out, with the 26-year-old’s personal bravery also resulting in emotional tracks addressing mental health and sobriety struggles. Avril Lavigne melodies and Hayley Williams power-ballads are scattered throughout the project, as clichéd a comparison as that sounds. ‘Fall to Pieces’ and ‘Easy’ display opposing relationship situations, one to do with confusion and anxiety, the other with confidence and relief. Both tracks build momentum perfectly, leading to angsty choruses that remain in the brain long after listening.

Baron-Gracie’s use of she/her pronouns on ‘She’s My Religion’ emphasise her recently discovered sense of queer pride (“She's cold, she's dark, she's cynical/ She's forever angry at the world/ She's no angel, but she is my religion”) while the multi-instrumentalist defends the LGBTQ+ community more forcefully on ‘Tomorrow’: “Sexuality isn’t a choice/ Don’t let anyone tell you it’s wrong.”

Occasionally, the lyrics can seem a little too sweet, but Baron-Cohen’s authenticity is one of the primary reasons why Gen Z love Pale Waves. You get a sense that she knows her words would have aided her during adolescence, so she has decided to give back to kids facing the same dilemmas now.

Certain tracks have a tendency to blend together, and musically there is no attempt to shatter any genre boundaries. But, as a coming-of-age album, Who Am I? completes the foundations for an empowering female-led pop-rock project, offering a strong statement of where the band is aiming to go in the future.

Smart songwriting, the willingness to address insecurities head-on and a twist on the Courtney Love aesthetic represent a formula for success. Their younger audience especially won’t be disappointed: Who Am I? will no doubt make copious appearances at the weepy end of very cool, alt house parties (far into the future). And who are we to argue?

Listen to: 'Change', 'Fall to Pieces'

Who I Am? is out now via Dirty Hit.