Wolf Alice delight in telling a new story on The Clearing

Twitter and micro-blogging site Tumblr were at their height, with a sub-genre of teens and 20-somethings predominantly discovering, re-posting, and obsessing over the latest guitar driven bands. Amongst this era, stood the quiet rumblings of the North London quartet Wolf Alice, who, despite not gaining the quick traction of The 1975, HAIM and those alike, have climbed the ranks with increasing grandeur with every release. With a Mercury Prize win for 2017's second album Visions Of A Life, BRIT nominations and a variety of accolades that is quite frankly too long to list, Wolf Alice have not only managed to endure, but evolve.

When fans were invited to sign up to the band’s mailing list in April, a frenzy occurred. Four years after the brooding and cinematic release of third album Blue Weekend (2021), the teaser of a jaunty piano riff was dropped into inboxes to a reaction met with excitement and expectation. A month later, the curtain was lifted on “Bloom Baby Bloom”, the bold and triumphant comeback single, which showcases frontwoman Ellie Rowsell’s vocals at their most impressive yet. You can hear the eye-rolling as she sighs “Fucking baby / Baby-man,” before unleashing a roaring pre-chorus that channels the swagger of Guns N’ Roses frontman, as Rowsell admits “I wanted a rock song, to focus on the performance element of a rock song and sing like Axl Rose, but to be singing a song about being a woman.”

Whilst the aforementioned maintains the key elements of an excellent Wolf Alice track, the rest of the album is the band continuing to mature on their own terms. Take “Just Two Girls”, the apparent grown-up version of early single “Bros”, which reminisced on a youthful friendship set against a backdrop of euphoric guitar riffs and wistful synths. Now 12 years on, that relationship is captured through intoxicated, and at the time, life-affirming conversations late at night, with Rowsell speaking to women across the world, “You know the best part is the debrief on the hangover / Yeah you’re so right.” This time, sonically, it’s a whole new kettle of fish, leading with a nostalgia driven piano loop against Theo Ellis’ funk inspired bassline, it could be an unreleased ABBA track.

For a band that has often left young women googly-eyed at Ellie Rowsell’s ability to play guitar with vigour and effortlessly flex her vocals between eyebrow raising screams and operatic harmonies – the word on the street that Rowsell was putting the guitar down on this record was intriguing. However, It’s immediately evident with album opener “Thorns”, she deserves to stand alone in the spotlight. Producing something that wouldn’t look out of place in a Bond opening credits scene, an achingly gorgeous string section tied together with stunning leading vocals and backing harmonies from the rest of the band is an emotional roller coaster at just three minutes in. Visions of Rowsell centre stage continue to play throughout, with the utterly lovesickening “Leaning Against The Wall”, you can’t help but conjure up an image of the frontwoman turning heads as she bathes in the limelight of an open mic night.

Despite Rowsell taking a step forward more than ever before, it’s as if the rest of the band took a leaf out of her book and shuffled alongside. The hazy motions of “Passenger Seat” see the band as an incredibly tight knit unit, with Rowsell and drummer Joel Amey’s vocals bouncing off of each other delightfully. And, for the first time since their debut album My Love Is Cool, Amey features as a solo vocal addition to the tangled guitar inflicted frenzy of “White Horses”, adding a welcomed dimension to the record.

The band continue to get it spot on when it comes to their ability partnering Rowsell’s vulnerable lyricism against the right soundscapes. “Play It Out”, is chilling; with its irony of growing old and questioning motherhood, whilst sounding like a lullaby, whereas “Bread Butter Tea Sugar” is bouncing with energy that draws a likeness to Fleetwood Mac and Steely Dan – which ultimately leads into a crescendo of atmosphere as Ellie’s signature thrilling whispers announce “Under the shadow of the light / I pay no mind to move / There is still some scattered light / It warms me up like it could reach me inside / And then I come into a clearing.”

As the album closes with stunning arrangement of “The Sofa”, which has Ellie pining “Just let me lie here on the sofa / And put the re-runs on TV,” it’s clear that this is a band who, as much as they may want to, aren’t lying on the sofa watching catch up TV, in fact quite the opposite. With each record, Wolf Alice return with more bite, a new story to tell, and new fans to invite into their world, The Clearing is no exception to the rule.