The tour begins this October. Last year, they released their fourth studio album ‘Smitten’, with lyrics largely drawn from lead singer Heather Baron-Gracie’s teenage diary, offering an intimate look into her emotions surrounding her queer identity. The album’s soundscape takes inspiration from artists like Kacey Musgraves and Dolores O’Riordan of The Cranberries.

In an interview with MXDWN, Heather Baron-Gracie discussed in further detail the inspirations and creative processes behind the album. She reflects on how she’s evolved from her younger self when discussing the track ‘Miss America’, saying: “Miss America, it was kind of how my past behaviours weren’t great, I had not been the best partner to someone and I think in the moment I would justify that and give it reasoning. But I think being older and being able to reflect and now I can hold my hands up high and be like, no, I definitely was in the wrong and I should have done better, but I think in the moment I wouldn’t have admitted that. So, I think it’s all about reflection and being able to kind of admit when you are wrong and when you’ve not done right.”

Discussing the sound of the record, Baron-Gracie says: “It has those ’80s dreamy and anthemic guitars and the twinkly synths and the big choruses, and I think that’s just what we do best. So it was just naturally the kind of music that we wanted to write and what we write best.”

For the 2025 ‘Still Smitten’ tour, the band expressed a desire to perform in spots across the UK and Ireland that often go unnoticed. They said in a statement to the press: “We’re so excited to announce our new tour—this time, we’re heading to places across the UK and Ireland that often get overlooked. These aren’t your typical tour stops, but that’s exactly why we chose them. We wanted to bring the show to places that deserve more love, those underrated spots that are full of character and loyal fans we’ve been dying to play for.

“This tour isn’t about the biggest venues. It’s about the biggest feelings.”

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Check out the tour dates below:

PALE WAVES’ ‘STILL SMITTEN’ TOUR

OCTOBER

13th – Sunderland – The Old Fire Station
14th – Stoke-On-Trent – The Sugarmill
16th – Manchester – O2 Ritz
17th – Cardiff – The Tramshed
18th – Wrexham – The Rocking Chair
20th – Brighton – CHALK
21st – Southampton – Engine Rooms
22nd – Norwich – The Waterfront
23rd – Bournemouth – The Old Fire Station
25th – Oxford – O2 Academy
28th – Dublin – The Academy
29th – Belfast – Limelight
30th – Cork – Cyprus Avenue

Tickets go on sale today, 26 June, and are available here.

UK it’s been too long, see you this October

Pre-order our new album ‘Smitten’ from the @DirtyHit store before 3pm on Tuesday to get access to pre-sale tickets

General tickets on sale this Friday at 10am BSThttps://t.co/FvI7kUw6NO pic.twitter.com/GnJVP3Fl7Q

— PALE WAVES (@palewaves) July 1, 2024

Their tour will take place throughout October beginning at The Waterfront in Norwich before playing dates in Liverpool, Nottingham, Brighton, Bristol, Sheffield, Glasgow, Newcastle and Birmingham. The tour will conclude at Here at Outernet in London on the 17th of October. During this run of dates the band are also set to headline Manchester’s Neighbourhood festival on the 5th of October, making a return to their home city.

Tickets go on sale at 10am BST on Friday (June 5) and you can buy tickets here. Fans can get access to presale tickets by pre-ordering a copy of ‘Smitten’ here. The pre-sale opened today (June 3) at 10am.

Pale Waves’ 2024 UK headline tour dates are as follows:

The Waterfront, Norwich, Thursday 3 October
O2 Academy, Liverpool, Friday 4 October
Neighbourhood Festival, Manchester, Saturday 5 October
Rock City, Nottingham, Sunday 6 October
Chalk, Brighton, Tuesday 8 October
O2 Academy, Bristol, Wednesday 9 October
Foundry, Sheffield, Thursday 10 October
Fat Sam’s, Dundee, Friday 11 October
SWG3, Glasgow, Sunday 13 October
Boiler Shop, Newcastle, Monday 14 October
O2 Institute, Birmingham, Tuesday 15 October
HERE At Outernet, London, Thursday 17 October

This follows the announcement last month of the Manchester group’s upcoming fourth album ‘Smitten’. Pale Waves previewed the band’s forthcoming album with 80s inspired single ‘Perfume’ which is reminiscent of bands like the Cure and The Cranberries. The lead single taken from ‘Smitten’ details what it is like being totally infatuated by someone. Speaking about the new single lead singer Heather Baron-Gracie described it as “Perfume’ is the perfect introduction into the new world we’ve created. It’s queer, feminine and romantic and it encapsulates the essence of ‘Smitten.’” The release of ‘Perfume’ was accompanied by a music video that shows the band in a hazy, Lovestruck Fairy tale.

“I found myself writing about not just a certain time period, but my whole life, from years ago,” Baron-Gracie says about ‘Smitten’. “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.”

The new album was written over a two-year period between the UK and US and sees Baron-Gracie talk a lot about the early stages of queer relationships.

The band are currently on tour in the USA supporting pop rock band PVRIS and are set to return to the UK for a handful of festival performances including Y Not Festival at the start of August.

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According to front woman Heather-Baron-Gracie, ‘Perfume’ is “the perfect introduction into the new world we’ve created”. It’s an infectious track heavily inspired by bands like The Cranberries and The Cure and just the notion of being head over heels for someone. Try to think back to all the diary entries you wrote as a teenager about your first crush and then plug that straight into an amp then add some gothic undertones and an 80s backing track. You can check out the single along with the music video for ‘Perfume’ below.

It premiered on Wednesday night as BBC Radio 1’s Hottest Record and Baron-Gracie describes the track as “queer, feminine and romantic”. The track feels reminiscent of 80s synth ballads and it seems the band are exploring a new sound that is devoted to the reflective and romantic through the new single and the upcoming album. According to NME, Baron-Gracie noted that she feels she falls very deeply in love and finds it interesting ‘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.”

Pale Waves have also released the album art for the upcoming record which is said to move away from the pop-punk sound of its predecessor, their third album, Unwanted which was released in February 2021, and lean more into the ‘jangly indie pop sound that takes influence from their home city’ according to the article by NME on the new release.  Their third album was a huge success debuting at number 4 on the UK Albums Chart and receiving a score of 72 on Metacritic so the band can only hope for an even greater success with Smitten. You can take a look at the artwork for the upcoming album below.

Pale Waves are currently on tour supporting PVRIS and have an exciting few months ahead as they are currently continue playing shows across the US throughout June and into July. They are also heading back to the city that made them, Manchester, to headline Manchester’s Neighbourhood festival in October alongside a number of other acts including Seb Lowe and The Mysterines. You can buy tickets for the day festival, which spreads itself across a number of iconic Manchester venues, from the following websites; Dice, Ticketmaster, Gigs and Tours and See Tickets. 

You can check out the full track list for the upcoming album, Smitten, below.

1. “Glasgow”
2. “Not a Love Song”
3. “Gravity”
4. “Thinking About You”
5. “Perfume”
6. “Last Train Home”
7. “Kiss Me Again”
8. “Miss America”
9. “Hate to Hurt You”
10. “Seeing Stars”
11. “Imagination”
12. “Slow”

The all day festival first formed in 2016 and has had a hand in propelling the careers of indie artists such as Sam Fender, Holly Humberstone and Alfie Templeman. The festival has been dubbed ‘the place to discover the next big thing’. The multi-venue festival boasts 100+ artists this year and will take place on Saturday the 5th of October 2024 across 16 different Manchester venues. This year’s line-up currently includes Manchester’s own indie rock band Pale Waves who are set to headline the festival as well as the UK’s new favourite tortured poet, Seb Lowe, who has previously supported 70s rock legend Patti Smith.

Pale Waves debuted a new song at their London gig on Friday and just three days ago they announced some exciting upcoming news which fan’s are speculating will be a forthcoming album or tour considering the unreleased song which was played for fans on Friday.

We’ve got something to tell you… Sign up to be the first to hear https://t.co/4oDOdlf3gv pic.twitter.com/PonaTXbXx0

— PALE WAVES (@palewaves) May 23, 2024

The Neighbourhood Festival team posted the line up on their Instagram which you can view below. If you’re interested in seeing the next wave of acts booked to play the festival, you can keep up to date with announcements on their Instagram @nbhdfestival.

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Alongside headliners Pale Waves, the line up includes Birmingham’s ‘Overpass’ who have taken the Black Country by storm with their startling sound. The band feature in the line-up of some of the UK’s most iconic festivals this year including TruckFest and Derbyshire’s Y Not. ‘The Vamp’s’ Bradley Simpson will also be performing his solo work and you can also catch a glimpse of Liverpools ‘The Mysterines’ who released their debut album in 2022 and are currently preparing for the related of their sophomore record, Afraid of Tomorrows, which will hit the shelves on the 21st of June.

Fan’s are delighted that the city will be brimming with musicality yet again after the disappointing news that Manchester’s infamous May Neighbourhood Weekender will be put on hiatus until 2025. If you’re unfamiliar with the structure of a cross-city festival like Neighbourhood Festival, the idea is that you can collect your wristband on the day the festival which grants ticket holders access to any of the participating venues across the city allowing festival-goers  ‘venue-hop’ to catch all their favourite bands and artists in one day. Some of the venues which are set to host include including the Ritz, Gorilla and Albert Hall. The all day festival is essentially a small-scale version of the Neighbourhood Weekender which has hosted the likes of The Wombats, The Kooks, Sugarbabes and Scouting For Girls.

Tickets went on sale last Friday the 24th of may and you can get your hands on them from any of the following websites by using the links provided; Gigs and Tours, Ticketmaster, See Tickets and Dice. You can see the full list of current acts on the flyer below.

.@charli_xcx had the best reponse to the Brits’ failure to nominate any women for best artist. pic.twitter.com/zCkHN2FP50

— Mark Savage (@mrdiscopop) February 12, 2023

Charli has now made waves with her decision to part with Atlantic Records, whom she signed a five album deal with at just 16 years old. The details of her new record deal have not yet been revealed, but Charli did tease fans with a glimpse of her “brand new recording contract” in her ‘In the Bag’ video for British Vogue.

Charli reveals that she has signed a two album deal, stating in the video “We’re in business!” Rumours subsequently began to circulate that she had signed with Dirty Hit, an independent label home to No Rome, Pale Waves and Charli’s boyfriend George Daniel’s band, The 1975.

Charli has previously worked with numerous artists signed with Dirty Hit, most recently teaming up with George Daniel to remix Caroline Polachek’s new single, ‘Welcome To My Island’, so it wasn’t surprising that fans thought she may have signed with Dirty Hit herself.

However, she quickly put these rumours to rest, replying to a fan on Twitter saying “i’m too expensive for them.”

i’m too expensive for them https://t.co/1ZXWeqERfJ

— Charli (@charli_xcx) February 22, 2023

Speaking to NME in October 2022, Charli revealed that she wasn’t sure about becoming an independent artist, saying, “I like not having to foot the bill for everything at the beginning, that’s quite scary. Especially when you want to do things on the kind of scale that I did on the last record. I’m still exploring, definitely.”

She concluded that, “there’s so many interesting options that would work for me.”

Charli’s latest album CRASH released in March 2022 debuted at No.1 on the UK Albums Chart, becoming her first album to top the chart. CRASH also became her highest charting album in the US to date, debuting at No.7 on the Billboard 200.

Following this success, Charli expressed her confusion surrounding the lack of recognition for female artists at the Brits, tweeting “i only came to speak the truth hunny.’

i only came to speak the truth hunny: https://t.co/vJj5hYrPYS — Charli (@charli_xcx) February 12, 2023

Despite her lack of nomination for Best Artist, Charli was later seen wearing a very on-brand tongue in cheek outfit, with a slogan t-shirt reading ‘REAL WINNER.’

REAL WINNER pic.twitter.com/GKuWS9m3UV

— CHARLI XCX UPDATES (@FckyeahCharli) February 12, 2023

Fans are eagerly awaiting news on Charli’s plans for 2023, with hints at further collaborations and even a potential book being on the horizon.

Stream Charli XCX’s latest album here.

@palewaves #newmusic #palewaves ♬ original sound – Pale Waves

@palewaves #newmusic #palewaves ♬ original sound – Pale Waves

It’s a further sign of their upcoming new album, which will follow last year’s Who Am I?. The latter received positive feedback from critics, with NME’s four-star review saying that “The band capture their optimism of a new life worth living, but never shy away laying bare the challenges of doing so in times like these.”

Who Am I? reached no.3 on the UK Albums Chart and topped the UK Independent Albums Chart, but before the year was out they were already working on the next one. It’s still to be released, but their third studio LP is reportedly already finished, and that’s been the case since before the new year.

They’ve also been touting their new song “Jealousy” on their UK tour back in February, during which Pale Waves’ frontwoman Heather Baron-Gracie promised fans a new single coming soon. It’s been a bit of a wait but that promise seems to be coming true now.

There might be some surprising moments on the new album. Baron-Gracie talked last year about how her love of the Netflix TV series Sex Education has inspired its very own Pale Waves number (you can read about this here).

And they haven’t been shy in teasers for fans, announcing the album last September with plenty of behind the scenes shots of them all working together in a studio.  Some possible lyrics were even revealed in one of the pics, giving a clue as to the tone of the new album. They read “Fragile as a feather, can’t afford to break. As I’m getting older, fear I’ll make the same mistakes. Broken around the edges.”

If you want to keep up to date with Pale Waves and their upcoming activities, you can follow them on social media here and here. Otherwise, there are a few live dates coming up, such as an appearance at this year’s Reading & Leeds festival (running this year from  August 26^th-28^th and which you can read about here) as well as a performance at Community Festival (in Finsbury Park on July 16^th). You can find tickets here.

Wrote a song about their relationship and i guess it ended up on album 3 pic.twitter.com/uWp2axTsBw

— HBG (@HBARONGRACIE) November 12, 2021

Sex Education is one of Netflix’s most popular original shows. Following the lives of a group of students, parents and teachers at Moordale Secondary School, it sees the characters trying to get by amid all the sexual mishaps and awkwardness that often comes with people their age. Starring famous names such as Asa Butterfield (The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas) and Gillian Anderson (The X-Files), series 3 was released last September and (SPOILERS) showed characters Otis and Maeve confessing their feelings for one another, despite the latter being about to leave for America. The show has been renewed for a fourth series.

Barron-Gracie’s news comes about as hype for the band’s next album seems to be growing. Their last effort, Who Am I?, reached number 3 on the UK Albums Chart and number one in the UK Independent Albums Chart. NME said of it that ‘There have been plenty of albums borne out of the pandemic … but few bridge the gap between the old and new world quite like ‘Who Am I?’ The band capture their optimism of a new life worth living, but never shy away laying bare the challenges of doing so in times like these.’ Apart from their studio work, the band are also due to be doing some touring soon around the UK and Ireland. The dates can be seen below and are set for February and March next year, seeing them performing in venues such as Belfast’s The Limelight, Dublin’s The Academy and London’s Roundhouse. The band is well-versed with touring, having accompanied bands such as The 1975 back in 2017, as well as being involved in a traffic accident when their tour bus rolled off the road on the way to support singer-songwriter Halsey in Berlin. Hopefully, this time around will be a better experience for them, as the band show themselves getting to grips with pandemic life and getting back to what they love most, making music.

We’re finally getting back on the road in February and we can’t wait. We’ve missed u all so much! Tickets on sale now, let us know which show you’re coming to https://t.co/T0V9qKZTra pic.twitter.com/q0ikmHkHNc — PALE WAVES (@palewaves) October 29, 2021

11/02/2022 – Academy – Bristol
12/02 – Great Hall – Cardiff
13/02 – Rock City – Nottingham
14/02 – Academy – Birmingham
16/02 – Academy – Bournemouth
17/02 – Academy – Leeds
19/02 – Limelight – Belfast
20/02 – Academy – Dublin
21/02 – Academy – Glasgow
23/02 – Academy – Sheffield
25/02 – Academy – Leicester
26/02 – Academy – Oxford
28/02 – Roundhouse – London
01/03 – Victoria Warehouse – Manchester

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Whilst this doesn’t reveal much about the possible content of the album or when it will be released if it is anything like their last release fans have something great to look forward to. Pale Waves earlier release of their second album, Who Am I?, which dropped via Dirty Hit in February of this year received much acclaim.

Reviewing Who Am I? upon its release earlier, MXDWN wrote “Baron-Gracie’s personal journey is one that taught her many valuable lessons that she has been able to transform into art and share with the world. Those who face similar struggles to hers can find peace and acceptance in Who am I?, as well as a voice that tells them that they are not alone.”

It was also well received over on NME when they wrote “The band capture their optimism of a new life worth living, but never shy away laying bare the challenges of doing so in times like these. Just getting through the day or to the finish line is enough for most of us these days; Pale Waves ought to be proud of what they’ve achieved.”

The band are still yet to tour the second album due to previous COVID restrictions and are set to embark around the UK next year, with the dates beginning in February which you can see below.

Who Am I? Tour Dates:
02/11/22 O2 Academy – Bristol
02/12 University Great Hall – Cardiff
02/13 Rock City – Nottingham
02/14 O2 Academy – Birmingham
02/16 O2 Academy – Birmingham
02/17 O2 Academy – Leeds
02/19 Limelight – Belfast
02/20 Academy – Dublin
02/21 O2 Academy – Glasgow
02/23 O2 Academy – Sheffield
02/25 O2 Academy – Leicester
02/26 O2 Academy – Oxford
02/28 Roundhouse – London
03/01 O2 Victoria Warehouse – Manchester

GO GO GO! Tickets are now ON SALE for This Is Tomorrow! See @DermotKennedy , @GerryCinnamon and @samfendermusic plus many more!
Head to >>> https://t.co/5pGOmwLztg pic.twitter.com/B5CJKmO0O9

— This Is Tomorrow (@ThisIsNCL) May 27, 2021

Announced as the headline acts for this year’s event include Sam Fender, Gerry Cinnamon and Irish singer-songwriter Dermot Kennedy. Kennedy will headline the festival with its first day on Friday, along with Blossoms and British rapper Bugzy Malone. Cinnamon will headline on Saturday after performances from Tom Walker and ‘Naïve’ singers The Kooks. The festival’s final day will be closed by headliner Fender, Sunday also includes sets by Fontaines D.C. and Manchester rockers Pale Waves. Other acts to perform include singer Mahalia, Irish rock band Inhaler, Circa Waves, Nadine Shah and 2020’s one to watch act Billy Nomates. Dermot Kennedy also took to Twitter to announce his headline performance as well as express his excitement for his set.

I’m headlining @ThisIsNCL Festival in September!! Tickets are available from 10am this Thursday 27 May from https://t.co/wDXiHSQ1l9 pic.twitter.com/OkFPIMUODT

— Dermot Kennedy (@DermotKennedy) May 26, 2021

The festival was cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has changed promoters since allegations of staff mistreatment. The festival was previously promoted by SSD Concerts who were involved in the claims made public on the company review site Glassdoor after their Instagram account was allegedly hacked, the claims stated that SSD Concerts were underpaying staff and making employees feel uncomfortable at their workplace. The festival is now promoted by one of the largest event promoters within the UK, Kilimanjaro Live.

CEO of Kilimanjaro Live, Stuart Galbraith had this to say about the return of This is Tomorrow.

“The pandemic has caused huge challenges for the live industry in 2020 and 2021 and when the opportunity came up for us to get involved with This Is Tomorrow it was a complete no brainer and a very easy decision for us to make, It’s a brilliant festival with huge potential in an area which has been traditionally over-looked as a music market. We’re delighted to be able to get this back in the diary and hope to see everyone in September for what promises to be one hell of a party.’’

The festival will also be putting on a free festival for NHS key workers as a thank you for their hard work throughout the COVID pandemic. The free festival will take place on the bank holiday Monday May 31st 2021 and will be held in Exhibition Park, headliners include Sam Fender, Gerry Cinnamon and celebrated British rockers Royal Blood. The one-off event will raise money for Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust, Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust and The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Tickets are now on sale for This Is Tomorrow as well as their This Is For The NHS event.

Click here to buy tickets.

“You Don’t Own Me is a song for women about what it’s like to be a woman in this world. How society depicts, judges, and criticises women on a daily basis.” She added “This song is incredibly important to me and I wanted to represent my own experiences. I also wanted to say a big fuck you to everyone that plays by these fake delusional rules that women and gender need to fit inside a specific box.”

The song features punchy guitars in a song that heavily exhibits the band’s new pop-punk feel. The track marks a decidedly less dreamy indie pop second album, unlike previous record 2018’s My Mind Makes Noises. The music video features Baron-Gracie in her signature black and red goth-pop style. At first, she sits alone, teasing the viewer, undercutting the typical ‘sexy school girl act’ with her powerful lyrics. Baron-Gracie cuts her hair and pulls faces at the camera in defiance of the role she has been given, rejecting traditional womanhood through subversion, and rocking out in the process. She is then joined by bandmates Ciara Dornan [they/them], Hugo Silvani [he/him], and Charlie Wood [he/him] as they spin into a high-energy performance complete with spray paint and smashing cameras.

The video was co-directed by Baron-Gracie and her girlfriend, singer-songwriter Kelsi Luck. The video is inspired by early noughties emo and pop-punk. This is clear through the video’s styling. Baron-Gracie’s clothing especially provides nods to emo fashion essentials such as the studded belt, plaid skirt, or loose tie that was popularised by artists like Avril Lavigne. Colourful graffiti provides the band with their own Riot! background, Paramore style.

Heather Baron-Gracie took to Twitter to express her thanks to the rest of the band and share some behind the scenes shots:

YOU DON’T OWN ME VIDEO OUT NOW https://t.co/CKDnndFGzb

Thanks @kelsiluck for directing this video with me, styling me and the boys and doing a lot of the work also thanks to the band for trusting us this video was so fun to shoot
WOMEN ARE POWERFUL pic.twitter.com/6IhxU33gb4

— HBG (@HBARONGRACIE) March 1, 2021

Listen to Who Am I? by Pale Waves here.