New Music Alert: Manchester, UK’s Pales Waves announce fourth full length, “Smitten”
(photo credit: Kelsi Luck)
A new music alert is coming in hot for you, and you know your plans for next Friday are covered! Manchester’s Pale Waves just announced their fourth album (third in a wildly impressive four years), “Smitten,” (September 20th via Dirty Hit). Dirty Hit has been home to the band since their debut record, “My Mind Makes Noises,” and is also home to some little-known acts you may be hip to, called The 1975 and Benjamin Francis Leftwich. And while the band is sure to keep the tracks off the album sacred, they also just dropped the first single off the album: the shimmery, anthemic, sure to be smash “Perfume.” The track’s cloaked in front woman Heather Baron-Gracie’s angelic voice and the chorus screams to be sung by the crowd in the live setting. Lucky for Boston, and let’s be honest, North America in general, Pale Waves will be in my fair city of Boston a week from Friday at the House of Blues Boston.
Seeing the band’s progression with this fourth record, “Smitten,” it’s now their third release since 2021, which is wild. The wealth of material will surely be hard to pick from while the band is taking on a full North American tour as direct support to the hometown hero in Boston, PVRIS. It’s also the band’s first time doing a full tour in the States since their last state-side tour. Which was halted midway through 2022 due to concerns with the safety of their tour bus. So there will undoubtedly be some dedicated fans in the audience. It’s the perfect match, honestly. It’s been a pleasure to see Pale Waves’ own Heather Baron-Gracie come into her own, as well as to see Lynn Gunn of PVRIS go from a local act to a longtime headlining artist who has transformed the sound of their act to an unimaginable level.
“Smitten” (September 20th via Dirty Hit) will be the aforementioned band’s fourth album, and the progression is evident. As Baron-Gracie has come into her voice, it’s clear there’s no stopping this Manchester act. From the untouchable angst reeking out of “You Don’t Own Me” off 2021’s Who Am I? On the same album, beauties filled with self-revelation like “She’s My Religion” and “Wish U Were Here.” It was compounded with high-energy moments like “Jealousy” off their 2022 release, Unwanted. And with the fall release of “Smitten,” the band is only going to continue to grow. Don’t miss out!
—
Pre-Save Smitten here!
Check out “Perfume” for yourself here!
—
Remaining North American Pale Waves Dates:
June 12th: Indianapolis, IN–Egyptian Room at Old National Centre
June 14th: Minneapolis, MN–Uptown Theater
June 15th: Chicago, IL–House of Blues Chicago
June 16th: Detroit, MI–St Andrew’s Hall
June 19th: Toronto, Ontario– The Danforth Music Hall
June 21st: Boston, MA–House of Blues Boston
June 22nd: Philadelphia, PA–Theatre of Living Arts
June 24th: NYC–Irving Plaza
June 26th: Washington, D.C.–9:30 Club
June 28th: Nashville, TN–Brooklyn Bowl Nashville
June 29th: Atlanta, GA–The Masquerade-Heaven
July 1st: St. Petersburg, FL–Jannus Live
July 6th: Austin, TX–Emo’s Austin
July 7th: Dallas, TX–House of Blues Dallas
July 9th: Phoenix, AZ–The Van Buren
July 10th: San Diego, CA–The Observatory North Park
July 12th: Los Angeles, CA–The Wiltern
Tickets can be bought on the band’s website here!
