![]() “It isn’t loud enough,” she screams, furiously trying to sate some primal need.īlue Weekend was released with Rowsell, Joff Oddie, Theo Ellis and Joel Amey all on the cusp of 30 – a time when youth’s reckless momentum slows and you’re forced to puzzle over what’s next, or at least to start being more honest with yourself. The confidence is conditional as is the relief on Play the Greatest Hits, a deliriously fun, campy rager about the groundhog day of narcotic nights out, repeated to keep real life at bay. Through a jutted jaw, she reclaims attributes that some might perceive as weaknesses – caution, sensitivity, rage – but the song’s crowning moment finds her at the bar amid her fellow “lost souls”, drinking to fake that superhuman feeling. The squalling, stadium-ready Smile is a personal rebuke to Rowsell’s critics. There are more headstrong forays into the abyss. Maybe certain annihilation is the fantasy, though some self-preservationist instinct kicks in: “Hey, is mum there?” Rowsell sings in a small voice at the end. Nevertheless, she sings, paradoxically, of feeling “alive, like Marilyn Monroe”, and the dreamy song billows skywards like the ill-fated bombshell’s skirts, a blissed-out wall of guitar steadily charring. But Rowsell is well aware that “the vibes are kinda wrong” and that the man whose bed she’s in is “here for one thing”. Similarly, at first pass, the woozy Delicious Things comes off as a classic fantasy of a wide-eyed newcomer seduced by life in Los Angeles. Wolf Alice: How Can I Make It OK? – video Rowsell’s lyrics have never been stronger, telling of a breakup with friends (brooding opener The Beach), a litany of creeps, misogynists and a cheating lover: “I take you back / Yeah, I know it seems surprising,” she thunders on Lipstick on the Glass with a measure of ecstatic control, as if mirroring her prideful composure. She has said that Blue Weekend is her least autobiographical album: whatever the inspiration, it tells a convincingly lived-in story of searching in dark places for answers to some indefinable question of self-sabotage becoming a logical response to having your worst suspicions confirmed. It’s also one that’s seldom as straightforward as it seems, deriving its greatest potency from Ellie Rowsell’s subtly layered songwriting. Somehow they skirted both pitfalls: Blue Weekend is Wolf Alice’s biggest and most immediately satisfying album – cresting shoegaze, woozy classic rock, inventive acoustic songwriting cohered by melodies that aren’t just sticky, but frequently moving. Stuck in Dravs’ studio in Brussels, they meticulously refined the album, risking sucking the life from it. It’s a move that can fit uncomfortably for anyone not born in Bono’s image, as the low-key London four-piece clearly aren’t. They made it with Markus Dravs, the go-to producer for going big ( Arcade Fire, Coldplay, Florence + the Machine). The latest single feels like it will be embraced whole heartedly when it's eventually played live, it's an anthem just waiting to get the mosh-pit moving.W olf Alice’s third album could easily have been a disaster. ![]() The wait may have been drawn out but it looks like it has been more than worth it. 'Smile' is another great introduction to the new Wolf Alice album and sets the bar very high. "If you want me you can find me at the bar, Lost souls congregate at the bar, Take a minute and remember who you are, Sip your drink, sip one more and you’re a star" Ellie sings. The song mixes the incendiary with the melodic in equal measure as the light and dark elements play out. The shredded guitars and pulsating percussion provide a great platform from which Ellie Rowsell can add her distinctive vocal. On band's latest track, 'Smile', there is a return to the more raucous and explosive version of Wolf Alice. At points Ellie's vocal is almost whispered as she delivers her lyrics over a Beatles flavoured soundtrack. ![]() 'The Last Man On Earth' was a softer and mellower return from critically acclaimed Indie band. The band's first single of the year, and first single since they collaborated on the creative 'Teenage Headache Dreams' with Mura Masa, certainly showcased the vulnerability that Wolf Alice are capable of. 'Blue Weekend', according to the press statement, "sees Wolf Alice embrace a newfound boldness and vulnerability in equal measure." It's been more than three years since Wolf Alice released their last, Mercury Prize, winning album, 'Visions Of A Life', and it will be six years after their stunning debut album, 'My Love Is Cool'. With a third album, 'Blue Weekend', due out on June 11th through Dirty Hit Records, the 'Fluffy' band are once again feeding the frenzied desire of their adoring fans. Wolf Alice fuel the fire for a second time in two months with the release of their latest single this year, 'Smile'.
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