Photo Credit: Rachel Fleminger Hudson
Words: Sophie Eley

Over the past decade Wolf Alice have established themselves as one of Britain’s most inventive and unpredictable rock bands. Each record has marked a new chapter, from their first album My Love Is Cool (2015), the Mercury prize winning Visions of Life (2017), to the cinematic scope of Blue Weekend (2021). Their fourth studio album, The Clearing, arrives four years after their last release and carries the weight of a band entering their second decade together. Guided by Grammy-winning producer Greg Kurstin, they deliver a record that’s steeped in 70s influences, yet is unmistakably their own. It’s a record that reflects on the chaos of youth and finds something steadier, more expansive, and often more beautiful. 

Opening track Thorn immediately signals the scale of the album. Piano and strings build into a sweeping arrangement that frames Ellie Rowsell’s most fearless vocal performance to date. Lines such as “Maybe I’m a masochist / Don’t know why I must persist to write a song and dance about it” are delivered with such uncompromising intensity the self-awareness of the lyric almost slips by unnoticed. Lead single Bloom Baby Bloom follows with a rush of percussion and defiance, Rowsell declaring “I’ll bloom, baby, bloom” as if announcing the band’s rebirth. It is an anthem that embodies the vitality of this new era.

The album thrives on contrasts and self-reflection, something that Wolf Alice masters as the tracks unfold. Just Two Girls feels unguarded as Rowsell embraces female friendship and femininity. In a similarly intimate setting, Leaning Against the Wall captures intimacy against the backdrop of what sounds like a bustling pub, recalling the love song essence of Don’t Delete The Kisses. Passenger Seat follows with a similar folk infused sound underscoring the irony in the lyrics “I only write love songs once you’ve left me alone.” 

The middle section of the album is where Wolf Alice’s experimentation becomes the most noticeable. Play It Out wrestles with ageing and expectation in a piano-led ballad which closes with the hum of a fairground ride, blurring the lines between innocence and adulthood in a way which reinforces the album’s overarching narrative. Bread Butter Tea Sugar reintroduces a rockier edge, one most familiar to Wolf Alice fans. Safe In The World and Midnight Song provide calmer moments to the rest of the tracks whilst still holding the bands presence. 

The penultimate track White Horses marks drummer Joel Amey’s first lead vocals since Swallowtail. This song extends the album’s exploration of identity, celebrating the strength and comfort of the chosen family he has found within the band. The album then closes with The Sofa, a ballad that reflects on moving past turbulence in your twenties with a sense of serenity.  It’s the perfect ending to a record that feels less like a collection of songs than a passage through time. 
With The Clearing, Wolf Alice sound like a band fully at ease with who they are. The quartet have mastered embracing the fire that once defined them and the calm that only comes with experience. Thirteen years in, this album proves their relevance and cements their welcomed place at the heart of British rock.