2014–2017: Formation and early career .|alt=A woman performs at a concert; she is holding a guitar in one hand and a microphone in the other Pale Waves formed in 2014 when drummer Ciara Doran met
Heather Baron-Gracie while attending
BIMM Manchester. The two originally named their group Creek, but they soon changed it to Pale Waves, basing the name on a painting Baron-Gracie's grandmother had created. Doran and Baron-Gracie initially enlisted second guitarist Ben Bateman and bassist Ryan Marsden to complete the lineup. Later that year both members were asked to leave and departed from the band shortly thereafter, with current bassist Charlie Wood and second guitarist Hugo Silvani replacing them. The band recorded early demos with production team Sugar House that were released in 2015. These tracks caught the attention of
XFM radio broadcaster
John Kennedy, who referred them to the independent record label
Dirty Hit. Pale Waves was subsequently signed to the label in 2017. On 1 June 2017, the band played a sold-out show at
Madison Square Garden supporting
the 1975 on their North American tour. The band's second single, "
Television Romance", was released on 16 August 2017, with its music video directed by The 1975 lead singer
Matty Healy. Healy later appeared on the cover of
NME with Baron-Gracie for the 20 October 2017 issue of the magazine. Pale Waves embarked on their first North American headlining tour in November and December 2017, playing 21 shows over four weeks. The band headlined
DIY magazine's Class of 2018 shortlist for its December/January issue. On 7 November 2017, the band released the single "New Year's Eve", followed by "My Obsession" on 13 December 2017.
2018–2019: All the Things I Never Said and My Mind Makes Noises Baron-Gracie announced on 4 January 2018 via
Twitter that the band had started recording their debut album. On 8 January, it was announced that the band had been placed fifth in the
BBC Sound of 2018 poll. Speaking to the
BBC, Baron-Gracie talked about how the band's debut album is shaping up and its darker tone: "The songs we have out now are very influenced by romance. The album is me talking about a lot of my darker issues. I talk about a lot of things that go on in my mind rather than in my heart". Pale Waves won the NME Under the Radar Award at the
NME Awards 2018, and performed "There's a Honey" at the ceremony at London's
O2 Academy Brixton on 14 February 2018. The band also received a nomination for Best Video for "Television Romance", but lost out to
The Big Moon. Pale Waves' debut EP,
All the Things I Never Said, was released digitally on 20 February 2018, followed by a 12-inch vinyl release on 16 March 2018. On 6 April 2018, it was announced that the band had signed to
Interscope Records in a joint venture with Dirty Hit to release music in the United States. The third single from the band's debut album, "
Kiss", following "There's a Honey" and "Television Romance", was released on 15 May 2018. "
Noises" was released as the fourth single on 28 June 2018. In an interview with
NME magazine in early September 2018 the band revealed they are working on a new EP following the debut album. Baron-Gracie discussed how the new EP will lean towards "pop punk and rock'n'roll" and will touch on themes such as politics, acceptance and sexuality. The band's debut album,
My Mind Makes Noises, was released on 14 September 2018 and reached number eight on the
UK Albums Chart.
2019–2022: Who Am I? Speaking to
NME while at
Radio 1's Big Weekend in May 2019, Baron-Gracie updated on the progress of the EP, saying the band "[had] so many songs" and that they would cut the amount to "five or six tracks" with the remainder that "will probably go on the album". However, in September 2019 the band reported they will no longer be doing an EP, rather "diving deep into the second album". On 17 October 2019 the band won the Q Best Breakthrough Act at the
Q Awards 2019. The band's second album,
Who Am I?, was announced on 10 November 2020 along with its lead single "
Change", which was named as
Annie Mac's
Hottest Record in the World. Baron-Gracie and Doran, both of whom are members of the LGBTQ+ community, aimed for the album to be "a voice for LGBTQ+ people". The album was partially recorded in Los Angeles with
Rich Costey though
COVID-19 restrictions forced the band to return to the U.K. and finish the remainder of the album remotely. Of making an album during the pandemic, Baron-Gracie confessed that "for me, music and art is for people not to feel so alone and isolated. I want to be that person my fans look up to and find comfort in."
Who Am I? was released on 12 February 2021 and reached number 3 on UK Albums Chart. It was supported by singles "Lies", "Reasons to Live", "
Jealousy", "The Hard Way", and "Clean", all of which were released during the spring and summer months of 2022. Taking heavy inspiration from the likes of
Paramore,
Courtney Love, and
Liz Phair, the album was a pivot into
pop-punk, deviating further from their
indie-pop and
dream-pop roots. The following month, in September 2022, Pale Waves went on to perform shows in North America, and were set to complete touring on October 7; however, on September 20, the remaining dates in the United States were canceled due to safety concerns over their tour bus. In November, the band played various shows in the United Kingdom and Japan.
2024–present: Smitten In June 2024, the band announced that its fourth studio album,
Smitten, would be released on 27 September 2024. The album was preceded by the singles "
Perfume", "Glasgow", "Gravity", and "Thinking About You". In January 2026, it was announced that Pale Waves had signed a record and distribution deal with
Tenace Records (a joint venture supported by the
Believe UK music group and
Tileyard Music). Roughly a month later, on February 25, the band released a statement via
Instagram that guitarist Hugo Silvani had left the group. ==Musical style==