Pale Waves - Smitten

The return of Pale Waves’ retro alt-pop falls in line with vocalist Heather Baron-Gracie’s coming-of-age movie marathon, taking a step back to focus on identify and to engage heavily with queer art. It’s a far cry from 2022’s ‘Unwanted’ – a record which owed more to Avril Lavigne than it did to the ethereal synths that return at the forefront of their newest, making it more akin to breakthrough debut ‘My Mind Makes Noises’. Written in isolation separate to ‘Unwanted’’s touring cycle, ‘Smitten’ sees Heather lead the thematic charge, peppered with references to past and present loves and romances, pulling together her self-discovery with the sound that the band are the best at making. Produced back in the UK following a brief Stateside dalliance, ‘Smitten’ offers an altogether more refined experience, one that pairs all-out pop melodies with tales of struggle, loss and heartbreak. Each track unfolds as an autobiographical timestamp, some universal and some specific, not least ‘Gravity’’s reference to the stranglehold of religion on queer relationships, ‘Hate To Hurt You’’s overt depiction of falling for somebody else, or standout opener ‘Glasgow’’s end of the line. It’s a welcome return for the Manchester outfit, who over the past half-decade had pivoted away from the sound that first turned heads and garnered acclaim. But it doesn’t rest on what has come before, landing somewhere between the ‘80s new wave of their debut and mainstream pop, now with the self-expression of a far more confident songwriter.