Pale Waves Teases ‘Smitten’ Album with New Single “Gravity”

Pale Waves have unveiled a new single, “Gravity,” the third to be shared from the band’s forthcoming new album Smitten, to be released via Dirty Hit on September 27th.

The bright, guitar-laden “Gravity” finds frontwoman Heather Baron-Gracie lamenting being yanked in different directions by a lover unable to choose between their relationship or her religion: “She’s pulling me like gravity everywhere she goes / Am I in too deep or out of my reach? Little does she know.”

Speaking about the track, Heather notes:

“‘Gravity’ is about a woman who chose Jesus over me. It took the longest of all the songs on the album to finish; I think we must have rewritten it millions of times to get it to where it is now.”

Written between the US and UK over a two-year period, Smitten finds the band reflecting upon their Northern roots. Deviating from the rebellious pop-punk sound of the 2022 album Unwanted, this new record is full of vivid, earwormy hooks, thwacking snares and jangly alt-pop that sounds fresh out of their home city, Manchester.

Lyrically, the record is preoccupied with past lives – some more recent than others. Heather found herself in a headspace where she could finally breathe and reflect, like peeling through the pages of a long-forgotten teenage diary and being surprised by what she found.

Heather says:

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

So much of Smitten captures the excitement and euphoria of early queer relationships, some of which come alongside confusion and pain. On lead single “Perfume,” an infectious 1980s-leaning anthem reminiscent of bands like The Cure and The Cranberries, Heather sings about being enamoured with a person: “My mother says that when I want something I never let go / Call me obsessed but I don’t mind just as long as it’s all mine.”

Fresh off the back of a packed summer of US tour dates with PVRIS and UK festival performances, the band will take to the UK in October for a headline tour in support of Smitten.

Heather says of the upcoming UK shows:

“These will be the best Pale Waves shows to date. The UK is home for us so these shows are even more special and we’re so excited to get to play songs from Smitten live.”

Tour Dates:

Thu 03/10 – Norwich Waterfront
Fri 04/10 – Liverpool O2 Academy
Sat 05/10 – Manchester Neighbourhood Festival
Sun 06/10 – Nottingham Rock City
Tue 08/10 – Brighton Chalk
Wed 09/10 – Bristol O2 Academy
Thu 10/10 – Sheffield Foundry
Fri 11/10 – Dundee Fat Sams
Sun 13/10 – SWG3
Mon 14/10 – Newcastle Boiler Shop
Tue 15/10 – Birmingham O2 Institute
Thu 17/10 – London Here @ Outernet

Pale Waves ‘Smitten’ album artwork