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A decade after the release of their debut album ‘My Love Is Cool’ Wolf Alice are back and better than ever it seems, with their long awaited fourth record ‘The Clearing’.
The album release is following a spell of festival shows and multiple single releases with the titles of ‘Bloom Baby Bloom’, ‘The Sofa’ and ‘White Horses’.
Starting the album with nothing but piano, strings and vocals, ‘Thorn’ sets the tone. Lead singer Ellie Rowsell’s vocals hit the ground running as they shine through with such force, her vocals are the main focus of the track, making the listener focus on nothing but her and the lyrics.
‘Bloom Baby Bloom’ being the first single for this new era of Wolf Alice is a forceful entrance to this new space, the track flourishes with glam rock influences and the switch between the harsh in-your face vocals and the softness of the chorus catches your ear and brings your attention.
‘Just Two Girls’ leans into a jazz feel where the lyrics are on the nose, the song has a beautiful melody where the flow of the lyrics commands where it's going next and carries the rest of the track, transitioning straight into ‘Leaning Against The Wall’ continuing the themes of the track prior, the song starts with the ambient sounds of being in a bar setting, this places you directly where the band want you to be. Highlighting the feelings of seeing an ex after a breakup, going throughout the track you are able to paint a visual picture in your head allowing you to place this into your own life.
‘Passenger Seat’ is clear in its country and folk influences weaved throughout it, with beautiful storytelling and harmonies. In the middle of the song there is a moment where the music cuts out and you feel as if you are placed within the song and story itself, this moment is picture perfectly curated where all you can hear is the soft rumbling of the car, Ellie singing along to the radio and the indicator of the car, including this within the track gave clear imagery and something unique to the track. ‘Play it out’ sets the tone from the first couple of seconds where it is just a piano leading into lead vocals, hard hitting lyrics like “How long till i’m happy” and “I wanna age with excitement /Feel my world expand” punch you straight in the gut. This track is a beautiful ballad highlighting real thoughts and human experiences as you move throughout your life and hit new milestones, within the entire song you can hear the honest nature within Ellie's vocals where she leans into the emotional vulnerability which Wolf Alice do not shy away from.
Immediately switching into something more upbeat than the previous track ‘Bread Butter Tea Sugar’ is a hard hitting and uplifting track with nothing but joyous tones and seemingly positive lyrics relating back to the start of a new love. The guitar solo is reminiscent of the era of glam rock and adds a rebellious element to the track.
‘Safe in The World’ is clear to have influences from the 70s with guitar and bass tones that could have been directly taken from that time and placed into this song, ‘Safe In The World’ is a beautiful love song where the lyrics accentuate the feeling of the honeymoon period and falling in love with someone, the slower tempo of the song helps to get this feeling across to the listener.
‘Midnight Song’ feels like the older mature sister of ‘Safe From Heartbreak (if you never fall in love)’ from the band's third album ‘Blue Weekend’. The harmonies throughout the track elevate the sound to an ethereal level, every aspect of the song builds to lift you up and ultimately brings you back down.
‘White Horses’ allows Ellie to take a step back from the lead vocals because drummer Joel Amey takes centre stage for the first time as a lead vocalist for the band, highlighting that the song is about heritage and figuring that out for yourself, Joel speaks on this topic from his own perspective with support from his band mates. Within the lyrics “Know who i am /That's important to me” this topic becomes clear, repeating certain lines within the verses pushes the importance of the lyrics forward and allows the listener to focus on them more. The song is upbeat and fun with a deeply personal message threaded throughout the entire track.
‘The Sofa’ takes on the feelings of being overwhelmed and welcoming taking time to yourself. ‘The Sofa’ is the perfect ending to the album as it encapsulates the feeling of everything all at once and gives you a moment to sit back and feel it all. Ellie's vocals push through with ease and perfectly sit within the soft spot of the song.
The album relies on forceful natures pulling the audience in from the first listen and ultimately bringing them back for the larger than life sounds, showing you that Wolf Alice are not playing around with this album!
‘The Clearing’ touches on self realisation, falling into yourself,discovering your heritage, coming to terms with who you are as you get older and falling in and out of love. Bringing the album to life, Wolf Alice rest against sounds of Glam Rock, Indie with Psychedelic elements, Folk and Country. Every single song shows different elements of Ellie's vocals as she pushes herself further than she has ever pushed herself vocally before, along with the rest of the band experimenting with new sounds and styles coming together to make a brilliant fourth album.
‘The Clearing’ thrives on maturity, finding new avenues to explore and the iconic Wolf Alice sound that people know, love and keep coming back to time and time again!
Alisha Lawton
Image: Rachel Fleminger Hudson, courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment
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