Following the announcement of their debut album Souvenirs, coming out on September 2 via Full Time Hobby (Dana Gavanski, Silverbacks), Devon’s Pale Blue Eyes has today shared a new track from the record. The accompanying video, directed by Dylan Friese-Green and Aubrey Simpson, captures the band on the road, crammed into a Nissan Micra, cruising through the English countryside.

Speaking of the track, the band said “Little Gem is about relationships and gardening. We call Lucy [PBE drums and synths] The Emo Gardener. She’d painstakingly cultivate her little greenhouse only to be left distraught when the tomatoes got blight – swearing and weeping by the compost heap. The song is a metaphor for our band’s journey. It’s about breaking down, then finding a way around – growing new tunes, cultivating them and sometimes having to start again from scratch.”

Souvenirs was recorded in PBE’s own Penquit Mill studio, just south of Dartmoor, the studio having been funded by a bank loan and endless part-time jobs. PBE are the couple Lucy and Matt Board, crucially aided by Motown-mad bassist Aubrey Simpson. Matt (vocals/guitar) and Lucy (drums/electronics) met at Dartington College of Arts in South Devon, a storied establishment that’s been enlivened over the years by people including Igor Stravinksy, Yul Brynner and John Cage. Lucy’s dissertation was titled “An Investigation into Sheffield’s Alternative Music Scene Between 1973 and 1978, with Particular Reference to Cabaret Voltaire.” The PBE album was mixed and mastered by Dean Honer (Eccentronic Research Council, Moonlandingz). Dean has been an integral part of Sheffield’s electronic scene and has mixed artists including Róisín Murphy, The Human League and Add N To (X).

PBE member Matt lists the album’s themes: “Embracing good times, losing yourself in a moment of bliss when the world around you is going to shit… Processing and understanding loss and grief and using music as a vehicle to move on… Fighting against the mundane and not giving up on dreams… The pure joy of a good night out or a moment of being moved by a band or a piece of artwork or a great film… Making the most of the time you have.”

Pale Blue Eyes are playing UK festivals across the summer. They are delighted to be supporting the esteemed Public Service Broadcasting at the following UK dates in October.

Pale Blue Eyes UK tour dates

04 Aug 2022 – Oxfordshire, Wilderness Festival
28 Aug 2022 – Leeds, This Must Be the Place festival
07 Sep 2022 – Manchester, Retro
08 Sep 2022 – London Paper, Dress Vintage
09 Sep 2022 – Bristol, Crofters Rights
10 Sep 2022 – Reading, Down at the Abbey festival
01 Oct 2022 – Warwick, Arts Centre
02 Oct 2022 – Norwich, UEA
03 Oct 2022 – Sunderland, Fire Station
04 Oct 2022 – Edinburgh, Usher Hall
06 Oct 2022 – Inverness, Ironworks
07 Oct 2022 – Keele, University
08 Oct 2022 – Liverpool, Olympia
09 Oct 2022 – Sheffield, Academy
11 Oct 2022 – Leicester, Academy
12 Oct 2022 – Swansea, Brangwyn Hall
13 Oct 2022 – London, Troxy
15 Oct 2022 – Margate, Dreamland
16 Oct 2022 – Oxford, New Theatre
17 Oct 2022 – Bournemouth, Academy

Order tickets for Pale Blue Eyes HERE