The Pale White are back, and ‘Inanimate Objects of the 21st Century’ is the record they’ve been building toward. Newcastle brothers Adam and Jack Hope return with their third studio album, a full-length that blends the anthemic punch of classic rock with the urgency and edge of modern alternative. Louder, sharper, and more defiant than anything they’ve done before, this is a band fully in command of their own sound and fully aware of what they want to say with it. Listen here.
Lead single “Absolute Cinema” arrives as a love letter to cinema culture and everything the big screen used to mean. “When we were kids in the mid-2000s, ‘going to the pictures’ with a tenner would get you your film ticket, fast food, and the bus fare home,” frontman Adam Hope explains. The song pays homage to filmmakers including Martin Scorsese, and to the communal experience of watching a film in a packed theatre, something that now feels increasingly rare. It’s a track with genuine warmth and a sharp cultural point, and it lands both.
The album title itself is a statement. As Adam puts it, technology is accelerating while human connection quietly atrophies. “We humans have now in fact become the inanimate objects, mannequins.” Written and recorded back home in the northeast, the Hope brothers embraced complete creative control after learning on their sophomore LP ‘The Big Sad’ that going home and being themselves produced their best work. That instinct has paid off again, dramatically.
‘Inanimate Objects of the 21st Century’ positions itself as the evil twin of ‘The Big Sad,’ its louder, faster, more confrontational counterpart. Where the second album turned inward and melancholic, this one faces outward and accelerates. Across eleven tracks the band moves through anthemic rock, urgent alternative energy, and moments of genuine melodic weight, a record that earns every second of its runtime.
The Pale White have been one of the northeast’s most compelling acts since their self-titled debut, and this third album raises the stakes considerably. ‘Inanimate Objects of the 21st Century’ is out now, with a Bearded Theory Festival appearance still to come this spring.
‘Inanimate Objects of the 21st Century’ Tracklist:
Moth in the Headlights
Float Away
Göbekli Tepe
Absolute Cinema
Oh Brother
Medusa
Carpe Diem
Mannequin
This Fascination
Disappoint Me
All I Have To Do Is Dream
2026 Live Dates:
May 23 – Bearded Theory Festival