Pale Waves – Smitten

Label: Dirty Hit
Released: 27th September 2024

There’s always been a spark at the heart of everything Pale Waves. A dose of magic, a glint of something special, that has guided them through different chapters across their three studio albums. It’s indescribable and irresistible. ‘Smitten’ embraces that emphatically: an album of soaring ambition and unstoppable pop hooks ready to be the go-to coming-of-age album of 2024.

While touches of last LP ‘Unwanted’ can be heard on the fizzing ‘Miss America’ and ‘Kiss Me Again’, ‘Smitten’ firmly plants its feet in that mesmerising world of 80s alt-pop and the crunching alternative for an album where identity and freedom are front and centre. ‘Perfume’ and ‘Glasgow’ are moreish shoegaze meets powerhouse indie-pop that practically call for massive arena-sized singalongs, whereas the wide-eyed ‘Not A Love Song’ and ‘Last Train Home’ could be cut from cinematic roll-tapes, and the gleaming keys of ‘Hate To Hurt You’ see Pale Waves sound unlike anything heard before.

More than anything, it’s an album bursting with confidence, refusing to take a moment to pause, and as a result, it grabs attention from the very first listen. Take ‘Gravity’, a track dripping in so many hooks that you’re left with almost three songs in one. It signals the next era for a band who’ve always aimed big, but on ‘Smitten’ now have the album that signals their intentions clearer than ever.

An album that gives an irresistible soundtrack to a modern diary of love and life, ‘Smitten’ is the sound of that Pale Waves spark turning into a headline firework display.