“When we started playing live again in February, it was quite scary at first. I remember being really nervous,” Hugo admits. “Now, it’s all connected and it started making sense. [We've] gotten more confident and less judgmental of ourselves on and offstage because that comes naturally as you get older.”
For Hugo, the band’s return was momentous for many reasons. Following Pale Waves’ second album Who Am I?, the spotlight zoned in on queer lead Heather Baron-Gracie and non-binary trans masc artist Ciara, who both opened up about their identities. Holding fort in the background, the boys also found themselves piecing together who they wanted to be.
“It's very easy to get caught looking at photos online, judging the way you look and the way everything feels onstage,” Hugo explains. “When you're 19 or 20, everything's heightened. It's the first time you've been in the limelight in your life and you’re having that many people looking at you. It's quite daunting.” The guitarist’s dawning confession is a surprising one: Pale Waves, even in their early days equipped with their oar-shaped guitars, had always pulled off polished, well-rehearsed shows.
After tours were axed and the music industry took a reluctant break, the guitarist found himself navigating a newfound “space away” to mature. “We've been together for years and we never stopped touring. When you're on the road, it's almost like you go backwards because you're having this lifestyle where you're staying up late there's a lot of drink involved. When we came back, it felt like everyone had found their place in the band, but also within themselves as well.
“It definitely took me a while to get over that anxiety of what other people think of us, and of me as an individual. For me, that's been the most freeing thing. When that happened, it makes you wish that that's the way you felt from the start, but it's a part of growing. I feel like that definitely reflects on this new album, and in our live performance as well.”