2017 saw the swift ascent of Pale Waves, a new-wave tinged indie-pop band from Manchester with an intriguing mall-goth/post-punk aesthetic. Signees to Dirty Hit, the label made famous by fellow retro-cool kids The 1975, the quartet dominated ‘Ones To Watch’ lists and accumulated millions of YouTube views for their singles ‘There’s a Honey’ and ‘Television Romance’. Theirs, however, was not an overnight success – in fact, the band had been around for three years prior, and a love of music had filled each member’s upbringing.
“I was about 11 or 12 when I realised music was the thing I wanted to do,” says Heather Baron-Gracie, the band’s vocalist and rhythm guitarist. “My dad played guitar and sang as well, playing around in bands as a hobby. I got into music through him, but it wasn’t until I went to university that I started to write and make music. I did a couple of solo performances, and I was even in a kinda pop-punk band for awhile – but nothing stuck. I met Ciara [Doran, drums] while I was at university, and we worked on music together for about a year. Eventually, we roped in Hugo [Silvani, guitar] to be in our band – and last but not least, Charlie [Wood, bass] joined.”
Although the quartet are around their mid-20s, their take on pop throws back to bands that hit their prime well before they were born – The Human League, Tears for Fears, Talk Talk and Simple Minds. The guitars are slick, the keyboards are glassy and the snare drum hits like it’s echoing off a baseball stadium. “I think it’s a product of all of us being exposed to it around the house growing up,” says Baron-Gracie. “Our parents loved a lot of ‘80s artists, and when I met Ciara that was something we really ended up bonding over. At the same time, we’re all really enamoured with modern-day pop music. With Pale Waves, we try to combine our love for these two worlds and make something that’s ours.”
Back in February, the band released their debut EP, All the Things I Never Said. The EP was a collection of two singles released the year prior with two previously-unreleased songs. “Some of the songs that ended up on there are from the very beginning of Pale Waves,” says Baron-Gracie. “Hugo had heard the demo version of ‘Heavenly’ on Soundcloud before he’d even joined the band. ‘My Obsession’ and ‘New Year’s Eve’ were circulating for a really long time as well. We wanted to get them recorded and released. so when it comes to the album we’ll be able to focus on the really new material.” Baron-Gracie pauses, and reconsiders the statement. “We genuinely dolove these songs,” she continues. “We didn’t want to just discard them, y’know? We wanted to give these songs an opportunity to be heard.”
With the EP out in the world and a clean slate to work on, Baron-Gracie and co. have shifted their attention to the all-important debut album. “We’re in London right now – we’ve been here about three weeks,” says Baron-Gracie. “It’s been really non-stop, but it’s really coming together. We honestly wish we could show you it right now.”
When asked what people can expect from Pale Waves’ debut, Baron-Gracie notions towards the unexpected. “I feel like this album is really going to open people’s eyes,” she says. “Obviously, it’s going to sound like us, but we’re going to really broaden the way we write. We want to explore our potential as much as we possibly can.”
Once recording is done, it’s off to Australia – this July sees the band making their maiden voyage down under for a pair of headlining shows in Sydney and Melbourne. “We’re all pretty much going in blind,” confesses Baron-Gracie. “I’ve got a couple of friends and some family members that have been down there on holiday, but I’ve got no idea about the music scene over there at all. This is the furthest any of us have ever travelled – with or without the band involved. The fact there are people that far away that know Pale Waves and know our songs, it’s so weird.”
