Pale Waves – Smitten
Capturing the kaleidoscopic array of feelings of queer love across a collection of earworms, Pale Waves’ fourth album may be the band’s most complete package to date
Pale Waves love a shake-up. Deviating from the silken synth-pop of their debut My Mind Makes Noises, follow-ups Who Am I? and Unwanted double-dipped their sound into a sugary vat of punkish-pop. Now, Smitten reemerges dripping in both; a toffee-apple-like concoction cracking out of its candy-coating to reveal a soft dreamy pop core that still retains some much-needed crunch.
Harking back to their more 80s-influenced days with a commendably grown-up demeanour, shimmering guitars and echoing percussion return on single Gravity and the absolute earworm Glasgow. There are odes to inspiration throughout, like Thinking About You with its sonic twinges of The Cure, while Perfume is as close to a 2024 version of The Cranberries as you could get. Meanwhile, the album's second half sees the ripping return of their rowdier tendencies, with Kiss Me Again, Seeing Stars, and Slow steering back into the alt side with ebullient energy.
Heather Baron-Gracie's lyrics are reflective, diary-like yet mature – thematically examining the loves of lives past and exhibiting the excitement, confusion and heartache of being young, queer and in love. Teenaged at heart, but adult in mind and execution, Smitten combines sounds, moods and eras to present arguably Pale Waves' most complete album.
Listen to: Glasgow, Kiss Me Again, Seeing Stars