The Pale White - 'Wisdom Tooth'
“Wisdom Tooth” used to be the firelighter of The Pale White’s sets in the tiniest venues and is now proudly available to the widest world as a studio-recorded song. First one to be released from the forthcoming four-song EP “Take Me To The Strange”, it is a predictable pleasure to get to hear the piece again. “It was actually written about a year ago and has been a staple of the live set ever since”, bassist Tom Booth told me via Twitter. “It’s a song that always seems to go down really well, and has become something of a fan favourite, really. [...] When we first played it live, quite a few people approached us after the show to ask what it was called, and from there we sort of thought that people might like it.”
The Newcastle trio kept their essence unchanged which allows us to dive deep into the song unworriedly. No big risk taken with the release – instead, a comforting release for the fans and an eventual discovery for those who had not had the pleasure to hear the piece live before: “It’s nice for the people who haven’t seen us live before to get a glimpse of a new track, and for anyone who enjoyed it live to be able to revisit it”.
Fresh sonorous tones from the bass and perfectly mastered drum rhythms upon which lays a clear voice with a vintage resonance: the basic requirements for a good Pale White song are offered with great generosity by the band, making it effortlessly an obvious part of their discography, almost as evident as its creation: “It started off like most of our songs do, as a riff that Adam had been throwing around in practices, and when we originally jammed it, it was a lot slower and more menacing. We eventually decided to tackle it properly and the three of us started to piece it together. It came together pretty quickly from there”, Tom explained on behalf of the band.
Beyond the ethereal groovy music, the lyrics are simple yet effectively direct: “We like to think of ‘Wisdom Tooth’ as like having a big clear-out. It’s about parting with something that you don’t exactly want to let go of, but you don’t need or isn’t good for you anymore.”
The song acts as a reminder of how good the band is either on stage or in studio, keeping the same energy and vibe in both situation – “Wisdom Tooth” is a nice start to a promising EP.
Words by Aggie Lemm
New EP “Take Me To The Strange” out on November 2nd 2018