There is an argument to be made that Wolf Alice are Britain’s best band right now. They’ve got buckets of critical acclaim, fans that are selling out arena shows and the quartet have won just about everything a band can win. These accolades have come from a series of quite sensational records, snaking through genre-bending, lovesick words and velvety sonic textures.
They’re back this year with a belter: The Clearing is a gorgeous album from a band at their peak, dripping in 70s and 80s influences yet maintaining a sound that is inescapably fresh. The record weaves between the sounds of their discography, with The Clearing building on the rich and lower tempo tunes from Blue Weekend. ‘Thorns’, the opener is sublime, with a brilliant vocal performance from Ellie Rowsell, swelling strings and melancholic piano – The Clearing could be a sister record to Arctic Monkeys’ The Car.
The emotive strings are a key player throughout, giving the entire record a fantastically cinematic feel. ‘Bloom Baby Bloom’ feels like Wolf Alice exploring every aspect of their discography in one song, something which really shouldn’t work but utterly does. The quality of a track like ‘Bloom Baby Bloom’ is testament to WA’s unmatched quality as musicians. They are exceptionally tight throughout, and the production from Greg Kurstin is off the scale in it’s nuanced quality.
‘Just Two Girls’ is another slice of 70’s beauty – again executed with aplomb by WA. The bassline here could be torn from Rumours. The Fleetwood Mac influence persists, with ‘Leaning Against The Wall’ and the simply beautiful ‘Bread Butter Tea Sugar’. The latter is the highlight on this record, which is some feat considering the abundance of quality on The Clearing.
The Clearing feels like Wolf Alice are transcending: they’ve shaken off the shackles off their youth and blossomed into one of the country’s finest musical outlets. This record sounds like Wolf Alice utterly unburdened – they’ve moved labels and made a record that stands up amongst some of the best of the decade
Words: Charlie Brock
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