REVIEW: Wolf Alice return with their incredible fourth album ‘The Clearing’
RATING: 5/5
Four years following their monumental third album Blue Weekend, Wolf Alice returned from the woods earlier this year with the promise of a new album - The Clearing - and the allure of a new look. Gone were the long coats and clean cuts, in came long hair and leather trousers. This visual change also continued into a sonic one on lead single ‘Bloom, Baby, Bloom’, a full bodied banger that showcased the direction The Clearing would be going in - less shoe-gaze, more piano and more opportunity for lead singer Ellie Rowsell to show off her vocal abilities. The Clearing seemed set to wipe the slate clean on what we think Wolf Alice can be…
And the opening song ‘Thorns’ continues this. A heavily theatrical track with an encompassing string orchestration, it alludes to the personal and reflective mood of the rest of the album. It’s also a totem to Wolf Alice’s new sound - drawing on all their past exploits to craft sonic magic with some of their strongest material to date.
It shouldn’t be a surprise then that ‘Bloom, Baby, Bloom’ stands as Wolf Alice’s best stand alone single since ‘Don’t Delete the Kisses’, and potentially their best ever. It showcases everything that this renaissance stands for; diverse instrumentation, a boundless forward energy, and no more hiding behind shoegaze-y synth for Rowsell’s vocals. Lyrics that would’ve once been whispering and beautifully breathy are now powerful and undaunted, taking centre stage as Rowsell evokes images of rebirth and blossoming as the band leave behind the chaos of their 20s and look onto their 30s unfazed.
Photo Credit: Rachel Fleminger Hudson
This self-confidence and self-assurance continues throughout with every track pushing an effortless energy synonymous with this album. ‘Leaning Against the Wall’ is probably the closest we get to “classic” Wolf Alice, with an ethereal midsection, full of synth and heavenly vocals, but even then it’s full of The Clearing’s energy. It’s personal, willing to do new things with incredible proficiency and assurance (Joff Oddie’s finger-picked guitar through the verses of this song is immaculate), and emblematic of a band that’s fully in its element.
The album’s emotional and thematic core can be most plainly found on ‘Play It Out’, a beautifully winding ballad that sees Rowsell reflect on aging, leaving behind the self-conscious 20s for a more self-accepting 30s, and doing things for herself, not worrying about people-pleasing.
‘White Horses’ is the one of the most interesting tracks on the record, with drummer Joel Amey’s poetic lyrics about identity and diaspora lending the track an unwavering impetus that the rest of the band capitalise on to create a wild ride about home and returning as the sang sing that “White Horses carry me”.
This is then immediately juxtaposed with ‘The Sofa’, a great soothing track that encapsulates a great deal of what the album is about. Taking the “Wild thing in me” Rowsell accepts herself for what she is and takes a break from it all by taking a break on the Sofa.
The Clearing marks a new period of self-confidence for Wolf Alice which has pushed them further from their origins than ever before, and yet they continue to keep delivering incredibly polished and complete albums. Their discography has yet to put a foot wrong and it looks as though they will only do greater and bolder things as they just keep getting better.
Words: Callum Martin
Photos: Rachel Fleminger Hudson
