Named after a French term defining rebellion, freedom, and the right to fight for what you believe in – Manchester alt-rock five-piece PAVÉ burst onto the scene with a performance at Gorilla just days before the first national lockdown.
Through restrictions and a pandemic-ravaged music industry – they’ve persevered united by a common purpose – to make both music and a difference in the world.
Following January’s single ‘Animal’, this second release of 2023 is striking in not only sound but origin. Packed with frustration – it was following a drunken argument between friends that this track came to be.
Lead vocalist Alanya Simms explains “What makes [‘Til I Die’] special is that it is one of the only tracks we have that wasn’t necessarily thought through, I just sat and wrote down what I was feeling in the moment and with that, it was complete that night.”
Opening with a punch of reverb-soaked guitar notes, vocals kick in around the 15-second mark, and…well, get straight to the point. “Fuck you and your pathetic little excuses”.
What follows is a four-minute battle of will and words with vocal delivery tipping between soulful and savage. Expletive-laden lyrics convey grit, anger, and determination to be heard. The catchy chorus comes in hard with a heavy clash of guitars, thundering drums, and an imploring question…“Darling, can you hear me?”
Just over halfway through, Simms switches the pace with an almost rapped/spoken word section against the backdrop of an ever-climbing guitar solo.
For a band that many struggle to pin just one genre on – there are definitely flavours of Yonaka, Nothing But Thieves, and Halestorm in there. ‘Till I Die’ is a no-nonsense rage track that also manages to be incredibly well-crafted and equally executed.
With a motto of “fight, rebel and be free” – you wouldn’t expect anything less than a riot from PAVÉ. But their latest offering feels more like a revolution.