Pale Waves announce new album Smitten

Manchester rock band Pale Waves have announced their new album Smitten which will be released September 20 via Dirty Hit.

The record was written over a two year period when the group were moving between the UK and US, and will see the band “reflecting upon their Northern roots”.

Speaking on the album, lead vocalist Heather Baron-Gracie said it was written when she was in a headspace that allowed her to reflect on the recent past.

“I found myself writing about not just a certain time period, but my whole life, from years ago,” she said.

“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.”

The group have also released the lead single off the album entitled ‘Perfume’.

Premiered last night as BBC Radio 1’s Hottest Record, Baron-Gracie describes the track as “queer, feminine and romantic” and said that “it encapsulates the essence of Smitten.”

Pale Waves' debut EP, All the Things I Never Said, was released in February 2018, followed by their debut studio album My Mind Makes Noises in September that year.

The band's second album Who Am I? was released in February 2021, and peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart. The record also hit number one on the UK Independent Albums Chart.

Pale Waves are currently on the road in the US for a full support tour with PVRIS and will return to the UK for a handful of festival performances including Y Not Festival and Neighbourhood Festival.

Check out ‘Perfume’ and Smitten’s tracklist below.

Smitten tracklist:
1 - Glasgow
2 - Not a Love Song
3 - Gravity
4 - Thinking About You
5 - Perfume
6 - Last Train Home
7 - Kiss Me Again
8 - Miss America
9 - Hate to Hurt You
10 - Seeing Stars
11 - Imagination
12 - Slow