ALBUM REVIEW: Wolf Alice - The Clearing

“Feels a little like I’m stuck in Seven Sisters, North London” croons Ellie Rowsell on 'The Sofa', the closing track from Wolf Alice’s latest album, 'The Clearing'. A soaring orchestra is present, ebbing and flowing out of focus, accompanied by twinkly piano and delicate plucks of an acoustic guitar.

Photo Credit: Wolf Alice 2025

Marking a vast departure from the Los Angeles’ sun soaked 'Blue Weekend', the band’s newest long play is rooted in the sanctity of domestication, trading conversations induced by party drugs for more gentle considerations of motherhood and familial identity.

'The Clearing' finds Wolf Alice with a newfound sense of total assurance and clarity, with Ellie Rowsell, Theo Ellis, Joff Odie and Joel Amey all approaching their mid thirties. The scatterbrained vignettes synonymous with Wolf Alice’s infant oeuvre have been exchanged with Folk-laden grandeur, not to the detriment of Ellie's signature penchant for vivid, intimate storytelling.

'Leaning Against The Wall' takes a firm hold of the heart strings, evoking chest pains reminiscent of the band’s seminal ballad 'Don’t Delete The Kisses'. Whilst that track is akin to a romantic sucker punch, 'Leaning Against The Wall' describes how Ellie experiences falling in love from afar and in slow motion.

There’s inevitable further comparisons to be made between 'Just Two Girls' and 2015’s 'Bros', two tracks intertwined by themes of untarnished loyalty and girlhood. It would be in poor taste to diminish these parallels as the band retracing their steps; to the contrary, 'The Clearing' is Wolf Alice at their most vital and refined, revisiting inspirations whilst providing renewed perspectives.

Although the track list sorely lacks the booming, ear drum scorching urgency of 'Smile' or 'Play The Greatest Hits', the listener’s attention is garnered subtly yet masterfully. Drummer Joel Amey takes lead vocal responsibilities on 'White Horses', laying bare his internal gripes with heritage; “I don’t need to solve my unknown identity”. Rowsell makes reserved but effective interjections throughout, painting shades of Nicks and Buckingham.

'The Clearing' encompasses a variety of sub-genres whilst staying commendably faithful to its centrifugal folk congruity. Opener 'Thorns' takes a gorgeously gothic piano-driven lead, swelling with scorn. Conversely, 'Midnight Song' ripples with Joff Odie’s finger picked guitar, culminating in a galloping rhythm befitting of a Hollywood score. The gem in The Clearing’s crown comes in the form of 'Play It Out', as Ellie confronts her own biological clock atop a downbeat tempo.

'The Clearing' concludes with 'The Sofa', a declaration of the band’s gratuity for the path they’ve carved in the decade since releasing their debut. There’s a pang of frustration in Ellie's closing remarks, a suggestion that the group’s forward journey could take them back to the glitzy California hills. No matter where their road may twist next, Wolf Alice will surely find acclaim at every corner with 'The Clearing' in tow.