Heather Baron-Gracie (the band's lead singer and rhythm guitarist) co-wrote all of the album's songs with a close group of musical collaborators, including drummer Doran, Kelsi Luck, Cervini, Sam de Jong, Whakaio Taahi, Andrew Goldstein, and Drew Fulk.

Musically, the record was inspired by bands and musicians like Paramore, My Chemical Romance, Green Day, Liz Phair, and Courtney Love.

[17] In an interview with Zane Lowe's Apple Music 1 show, Baron-Gracie further explained that the group wanted Unwanted to be a fun, high-energy record to perform live.

Pale Waves thus decided to embrace a "heavier" pop-punk sound that emphasized distorted guitars over synthesizers;[18] Baron-Gracie touched upon this topic again in an interview with University College Dublin's student newspaper, The University Observer, when she contended that the album "hits harder" than their previous work and better emphasizes the pop punk side of the band.

"[2] In a write-up released by Rock Sound, the band cited Liz Phair and Courtney Love as inspiring some of the album's "angst and anger",[20] and due to these emotions, Baron-Gracie felt that the record was raw and genuine.

An "angst-fueled, rebellious pop-punk anthem" inspired by the "crunchy guitars and rhythmic drive of 2000s" and "90s rock",[29][30] the song's lyrics focus on someone who built up and then destroyed Baron-Gracie's trust.

[5] The album's title track, "Unwanted", was inspired by Baron-Gracie's frustration with sexist double standards, specifically when it comes to expressions of anger.

[30] "The Hard Way" – a track that begins as an "intimate, lullaby-like acoustic" work[31] that "builds toward soaring electric guitars"[32] – was inspired by the music of My Chemical Romance and Green Day.

[30] "Without You" is a ballad whose lyrics focus on the pain of loss,[30] and "Only Problem" – a track that NME compared to the work of Paramore[31] – was inspired by Baron-Gracie's former reliance on alcohol to feel confident and secure.

[30] "Reasons to Live" – a positive, "romantic" track thematically similar to the band's previous 2021 single "Easy"[2] – has been described as a "euphoric burst of electric energy about finding someone who leads you out of darkness".

[30] The album's closer, "So Sick (Of Missing You)", was inspired by the Netflix series Sex Education, in particular the relationship between main characters Maeve and Otis.

[6] A video for "Reasons to Live" (directed by Kelsi Luck and filmed in Las Vegas)[41][42] was released on 25 July, 2022; it features Baron-Gracie singing the song in the back of a limousine while her bandmates happily party alongside her.

[56] Calling the record "bold and unapologetic," Elly Watson of DIY magazine felt that Unwanted was a "defiant expression of darker emotions".

[58] In a four-out-of-five star review for Dork magazine, Martyn Young wrote that "Unwanted is the ultimate realisation of their journey from eighties-indebted indie-pop to full-on pop-punk giants" and that it was "poised to take Pale Waves to new stratospheric levels".

[66] James Hickie of Kerang magazine contended that Unwanted was replete with "squeaky clean riffs and melodies that are easy to love but hard to forget.

[61] Andy Price of NME called the sound of Unwanted "an evolution few could have predicted", but he nevertheless applauded the record for being "fierce" and for "brashly plunging deep into the pop-punk grab-bag".

[31] He ultimately gave the record four out of five stars, concluding that the album "rais[es] the shipwreck of pop-punk from yesteryear and re-[fits] it as the flagship for those who feel genuinely maligned".

"Swimming through sincere subjects", Tuck wrote, "Baron-Gracie displays growth as a lyricist and sticks a middle finger up to the doubters.

While calling the record a collection of "precise, catchy, well-executed pop-punk earworms", Cooper critiqued Baron-Gracie's songwriting, which he felt was often cliché, unaffecting, and mired in "shallow melodrama".

[63] Marie Oleinik of The Line of Best Fit wrote that, with Unwanted, Pale Waves either "are comfortable exactly where they are, or maybe they want to play it safe and stick with what works".

[62] Tony Clayton-Lea of The Irish Times gave the album three out of five stars, writing: "Manchester's Pale Waves may not have an original idea in their bag of indie-pop/rock tricks, but that doesn't mean to say they can’t shake it up like the best of their influences (think My Chemical Romance, Avril Lavigne, Green Day, Paramore, Hole).

[67] Andrew Perry of The Telegraph gave Unwanted three out of five stars and described it as a record "along the lines of one of Courtney Love’s air-brushed, songwriter-assisted solo outings, with all guns blazing for radio-friendliness".

[65] Unwanted was released on 12 August 2022 by the independent record label Dirty Hit on vinyl, CD, cassette, and as a digital download.

[22] Pale Waves The other two members of the band, Hugo Silvani (guitar) and Charlie Wood (bass), are not credited in the liner notes as having performed on the album.