The band on everybody’s lips right now is none other than Pale Waves, a delightfully talented four-piece from Manchester.

They only recently signed to Dirty Hit Records, the label behind the success of The 1975 and Wolf Alice, and have since been touring extensively both in Europe and the United States as they supported their label mates.

Pale Waves announced a one-off gig at The Islington in London following their incredible sets at Reading & Leeds Festivals, and tickets sold out in a matter of minutes. An 18+ show with the promise of an intimate performance? Fans were all too happy to pay the £5 required for a ticket. The small but charming bar was packed wall to wall in the end; the room was as warm as the fires of hell but nobody seemed to mind as Pale Waves delivered a set of pure magic.

Not much is known about the young band, mainly because their signing to Dirty Hit meant all of their music that had been on YouTube or SoundCloud was taken down. Unless you are lucky enough to have acquired it previously, the only two recorded tracks on offer are the band’s first single on the label, ‘There’s A Honey’, and the recently released hit ‘Television Romance’. As a result, it was a treat when Pale Waves played an array of material that had each and every person in the room spellbound.

Lead singer Heather Baron-Gracie is nothing short of a goth chic dream, possessing an incredible vocal range that even some of the greats would envy. As the band powered through ‘Heavenly’, ‘My Obsession’ and the heart-wrenching ‘She’, she did not falter once. This is a frontwoman at her finest, backed by a phenomenally talented band— the world is their oyster, and it’s difficult not to spot the sheer ambition that oozes from them during their live performances.