top of page

All Time Low team up with Pale Waves on new single "PMA"

All Time Low’s new single PMA featuring Pale Waves takes the listener on a journey into isolation and overstimulation, and deals with hardships and mental struggles in today’s society.


Photo: Nolan Knight

I remember reading a tweet several years ago where someone was explaining the pop-punk genre. They simply said that “pop-punk is just happy music with sad lyrics” and PMA (an acronym for post-modern anxiety) is exactly that. It has those loud drums, a sweet bassline (which sounds somewhat similar to The Kids Aren't Alright by The Offspring), cool guitar riffs and fast tempo that makes you want to dance and have fun while the lyrics dig a bit deeper. Gaskarth says "it's about the little mundane things we do to keep ourselves distracted when loneliness becomes a constant and leaves us feeling apathetic."


As the pandemic rapidly spread across the world, a considerable degree of fear, worry and concern grew in the population¹. We had to change our lifestyle and reduce physical contact with other people. More people found themselves struggling with loneliness and mental health issues during lockdown² and I find PMA perfectly dives into these feelings of isolation and sadness. Reflecting upon all the different thoughts in ones head in this time of age and finding comfort in the fact that we're all going through this together; "Time to face up to the inevitable. (All the world was sleeping). I guess it feels good to know that I'm not alone."


As an All Time Low fan of 10 years, PMA reminds me of why I fell in love with this band: the drum-driven and energetic melody, the catchy chorus, Alex Gaskarth's vocals and the "I'm kinda miserable but still trying my best" type of mood (something I won't deny 14-year-old me definitely related to). The sound gives me the same vibes as some of the old songs on All Time Low's Nothing Personal album – my personal favourite – while also bringing in the band's new sound. Pale Waves' vocalist, Heather Baron-Gracie, also sounds incredible and her voice fits this track so well and adds that little extra to it. She says she was happy when Alex asked her to be on the track as she's a big fan and loved the song when he sent it over. "I really related to the themes, especially the exhausting worry that you're never doing/being enough in life" she adds.


Needless to say PMA is going straight into my playlist and will definitely be played (loud) through the speakers this summer.




You can listen to PMA on Spotify and Apple Music, and follow All Time Low on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.




by Emmi Sollie




Comments

bottom of page