Blending amped-up punk motifs with booming alt-pop stylings, “Hypocritical” sees the two-piece challenging the perceptions of what it means to be a woman making rock music and relishing the freedom. Spirited and sardonic in equal measure, it’s a playful power-pop anthem with a bitter sting in its tail. As The Pearl Harts explain:
“Hypocritical is a bratty, fun, scream-a-long song, influenced by the hi-octane pop of Miley Cyrus and Gwen Stefani with the punk attitude of ‘Impeach My Bush’-era Peaches. It’s an empowerment song for women and girls taking on the world.”
Following comeback cut “More”, a track praised by Classic Rock as “a single that adds a little polish to their gritty blues-rock sound”, and the Steve Lamacq (BBC 6 Music) and Radio X supported “Wild Me”; “Hypocritical” is the third sampler of the duo’s eagerly awaited second album ‘Love, Chaos’ (out 21 April 2023).
Produced by the band themselves in collaboration with Danio (Husky Loops, Kari Faux), the record features twelve tracks of the high-octane rock’n’roll The Pearl Harts have become known for, while adding some ‘90s NYC punk, 2000s hip-hop and modern polished pop touches into the mix.
Teasing the album, the duo say:
“‘Love, Chaos’ is about saying goodbye to unhealthy patterns that we all identify with in our lives. Be that work, alcohol, sex, drugs, procrastination, love… Whether we like it or not our whole lives are a series of patterns that shape our personality, they can come about through the unconscious, through family dynamics, through everyday interactions and through trauma. ‘Love, Chaos’ is about realising and accepting this and forging a life beyond.”
Not only reflecting on past experiences and the unhealthy habits that lie within all of us, the band add:
“‘Love, Chaos’ is about saying goodbye to unhealthy patterns that we all identify with. Be that work, alcohol, sex, drugs, procrastination, love… the list continues. Whether we like it or not our whole lives are a series of patterns that are the behaviours that shape our personality, the album is about realising and accepting this and forging a life beyond.”
Taking listeners on a personal journey of reinvention, ‘Love, Chaos’ also sees the band on a mission to rewrite the narrative for women in the music industry and beyond. “As women in rock’n’roll we have had to fight and unpick a load of history and patterns to accept ourselves as we are today,” they say. Shake off the ‘good girls’ we have been brought up to be’, not to become ‘bad’ but to become our real, true, authentic selves. We are starting a new conscious pattern of how we want to play rock’n’roll our way. We don’t just have to be hard, tough women. We can be sensitive ones too.”
Born out of love and a desire to make hi-octane rock, The Pearl Harts burst onto the scene almost a decade ago. Making a name for themselves with their wild attitude, DIY spirit and incredible live shows, the pair have been praised by the likes of NME (who praised the duo as having “an ear for dynamic riffs and gigantic tunes”) and Clash who lauded “The Pearl Harts have a visceral quality which is difficult to deny”. Garbage’s Shirley Manson is also a certified fan, describing them as “badass girls with all the right stuff”.
With their music heard in hit shows such as the BBC’s Peaky Blinders, the band have also gained radio support from BBC 6 Music,Radio X, and beyond. The Pearl Harts also recently performed a cover of Edwyn Collins’ “A Girl Like You” for BBC Introducing onInternational Women’s Day.
Having toured extensively across the UK and Europe with the likes of The Kills, Counterfeit, Frank Carter, Garbage and False Heads, The Pearl Harts recently completed their first run of live shows since 2019 for Independent Venue Week. Ready to do it all over again this Spring to celebrate the new album, the band will be taking their ‘Love, Chaos’ headline tour out on the road in the UK and Irelandthroughout May. Full dates and details below.
