SINGLE REVIEW: Pale Strangers – Deep Waters

’…a passionate performance that gets right to the point of what makes rock music really rock…’

It has been six long years since we last heard from Pale Strangers… kind of.

Formed back in 2014, the garage rock duo Pale Strangers hit the Merseyside scene under the moniker ‘Rival Bones‘, releasing their debut self-titled EP in 2017. With clear sonic influences such as Royal Blood, Death From Above 1979 and Queens Of The Stone Age, the duo produced hard rock tracks with infectious choruses that felt destined for traction. This was especially the case with their 2018 release, ‘Strangefruit‘, showcasing the band’s finest work to date with fantastic cuts such as ‘Scars‘ and ‘Beautiful/Dangerous‘.

Following this, in 2020 the band announced the departure of drummer James Whitehouse, with the intention of vocalist and guitarist Chris Thomason continuing the band. Alas, nothing ever materialised, and Rival Bones became consigned to history as a band that had a lot of potential, but had been unfortunately swallowed up by fate. That was until April last year, when the band announced their reunion and return.

In October, the band announced their name change to ‘Pale Strangers‘, and finally, this week have been treated to some new music from the pair. And even six years later, this duo know how to set your speakers on fire.

‘Deep Waters‘ oscillates between moody, restrained verses, and utterly bombastic choruses that erupt with righteous fury. Thomason sounds better than ever, not only bringing back his gritty hard rock screams, but delivering some great melodies in the verses with vocals that sound richer and more resonant than ever before.

Guitar lines swing between simple jagged picking and chunky riffs, all delivered with a heavy sense of groove, backed up by the powerful percussive performance of Whitehouse. There’s a real natural chemistry between these two musicians that is hard to find; it is unsurprising that even after all of these years, the pair have found themselves collaborating once again.

It all adds up to a blistering comeback for this duo, and a whole heap of anticipation for their upcoming EP, ‘The Pale Strangers’. ‘Deep Waters’ showcases that, not only have Pale Strangers lost none of their power, they have improved immensely as performers, and know how to deliver a passionate performance that gets right to the point of what makes rock music really rock.

For Fans Of: Death From Above 1979, Royal Blood, Queen Of The Stone Age, Foo Fighters, Biffy Clyro

Follow the band on social media below:

Instagram // Spotify // Twitter