The album’s title track is as unashamedly bold and unapologetic as its accompanying 12 tracks. The ultimate embodiment of the Pale Waves community, Baron-Gracie says she wrote the track not only for herself, but for the fans. “We don’t need to fit a perfect mould, we don’t need to apologise for being ourselves, we don’t care to be wanted and we won’t change for anyone. This acceptance is what connects us.”
Recorded in Los Angeles with producer Zakk Cervini (Blink 182, Modern Baseball, Halsey), Pale Waves’ third studio album is 13 tracks of classic pop punk with an edge. Think Sum-41 by way of Veruca Salt; all the crunchy guitars and rhythmic drive of a 2000s pop punk classic with the rage of a 90s rock band.
It is an album that knows exactly what it is, goes all in, and does it well. The band found themselves in a place of greater confidence and happiness, and that comes through in the sound – whether it’s drummer Ciara Doran pushing their ability to keep up the drive behind such robust pop-punk anthems, or Baron-Gracie embracing the darker feelings and frustrations she’s only recently been able to express. “Before, I didn't really feel ready as a person to be like, ‘yeah, I can be an angry woman and I'm proud of that’,” she explains. By contrast, Unwanted feels like the purgative scream at the end of a years-long inhalation.
“Unwanted is in your face, and that's exactly what I wanted,” Baron-Gracie says resolutely. “I want Pale Waves to keep growing in this direction. Bigger, bolder, and more unapologetic.”
Following a packed year including an extensive US tour in support of 5 Seconds of Summer and mainstage performances at Reading and Leeds Festival and Community Festival, Pale Waves will take Unwanted to the road in November as they embark on their UK headline tour.
Including a hometown headline show at Manchester’s Albert Hall, the tour will culminate with a show at London’s O2 Forum Kentish Town on Wednesday 30th November. Tickets are available now.
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