The Dust Settles: Wolf Alice Present ‘The Clearing’

Wolf Alice’s dreamy 70s soft-rock influences in new album The Clearing abandon past rustic clatters, with the band bringing in Amey’s vocals, cinematic synth, and experimental sounds into a self-assured stride. 

I’m a romantic (to nobody’s surprise), but I think my genuine daydreaming induced by Wolf Alice’s beauty of a new record is justified. A testament to heartache and misunderstanding is packaged into a rising, groovy summer record. Strikingly dramatic, Wolf Alice only continue to raise the bar for themselves, but lose none of their coy fury, and ecstasy-fuelled spirit. 

Opening into theatricality, ‘Thorns’ immediately sets the tone for Roswell’s barely veiled fury, wrapped in ethereal vocals. Rom here, an unfurling, honest selection of songs stands before us, and the feminine rage is poignantly marked. A love letter to female friendships, to the ones who hold you close, is felt in the ascensions of the album that precede classical string progressions. Certainly a sister song to ‘Last Man On Earth’, Wolf Alice’s cutting, incisive tone is never far. 

Falling into an Americana loop, ‘Passenger Seat’, echoes the band’s early influences, with beating love at the core. A groovy spiral is taken in ‘Just Two Girls’, and it’s a really exciting turn for Wolf Alice, into a more experimental, Tame-Impala sounding mix than expected, but certainly welcome. A serious statement in their cement as a mainstream band, with genre fluidity underneath their belts and a surprising amount of seamlessness. Their experience together as a band has pulled close, a tightly knit and interwoven sound that permeates the record. 

Losing your sanity in a Milton dream sequence, you find ‘Safe In The World’ as the album melts away underneath your feet. Roswell’s voice trips into rising vocals, communicating the need for love, it seems, is still as much a struggle. The song tilts, a relatable scene being painted against the backdrop of jazz-tinged plucky drums. The lucid petering off sets up for the mellow rays of ‘Midnight Song’, lightly tempered with a careful hand. Roswell’s bouncing vocals catch on not only themselves, but a string progression. 

Continuing the planetary worldbuilding with raw demands, we’re taunted, similarly to ‘Play It Out’ sonically. A slight rasp catches the emotion of the track here, in an almost lullaby of a song. The faraway scream of earlier albums are mimicked in the haunting echoes of screaming fury, instead placed into a piano ballad. Roswell continues to ruminate on the feminine experience, and the growing pains that come alongside it. 

‘White Horses’ sees our beloved lead vocalist stepping away, with drummer Joel Amey taking over on vocals for the first verse, his first return to vocals since ‘Swallowtail’. A funky number that splits up the last few tracks, with an unbelievably catchy bassline, birthing a lovechild of folk and psych. With a layered, lingering synth that makes sure the song stays leeching into your attention span for the rest of the day. Building into a cascading fall into a groovy set up to the album’s end.  

A surprising choice for the final track, ‘The Sofa’ finally appears after its roaring single success, being eaten alive by fans worldwide. Undoubtedly, taking a more pop-approach invites whining, but the confidence within the roots of the band is paying off. Less ear rattling and more nuanced progresses, Wolf Alice settles into their sound and lets the dust settle. 

Words by Millie Cain.