Have You Heard... Wolf Alice's 'The Clearing'?

Simply put, I’ve fallen deeply in love with this album over the past couple days. Wolf Alice’s fourth studio album, The Clearing was released just last Friday, the 22nd of August, and ever since my first listen, it hasn’t left my rotation. The album was released through record labels Columbia Records and RCA, and serves as a follow-up from their last album Blue Weekend, which was released in 2021. In looking through their Spotify for a little bit of background context/information for this review, the album comes as their first release in three years, and as a fan of theirs coming into this album, I reckon it was definitely worth the wait. 

Album Art by Rachel Fleminger Hudson and Alex Bois, rachelflemingerhudson.com + @alex_b015, Album art used here in compliance with s41 of the Copyright Act 1968 - Fair dealing for the purpose of criticism or review

Background & Context

Groovin' The Moo 2022, was where I first heard/saw this group for the first time, and after seeing what I thought was a pretty awesome set, I decided to check out their then, fairly recent last album mentioned just above. Comparing that album to this one, is almost like comparing rocks to sofas, there’s probably some similarities there if you look hard enough, but for the most part, they’re completely different. While the last album had more of this harder, heavier rock-y, punk feel to it, this album is slower, orchestral and almost folk-like. The Clearing introduces those orchestral elements right from the beginning of the album through the opening ballad “Thorns,” which is carried largely through the main piano line, and massive string arrangements. These are elements that are present on pretty much every track too, with the track “White Horses,” serving as pretty much the only song that doesn’t feature piano or strings as one of its key elements. 

Highlights

This atmosphere worked so damn well for me, and it was something that came as a majorly pleasant surprise as someone who came into this release with pre-conceived ideas of their sound. That’s not to say that elements from their previous bodies of work aren’t present on this album, however. Pieces of the Blue Weekend era can still be heard on this album, most notably on standout track “Bloom Baby Bloom,” which features some absolutely belting vocals and some sharp basslines, reminiscent of older tracks from that period like “Smile,” or “Play The Greatest Hits.” To give some personal favourites, my top three would easily be the tracks, “Just Two Girls,” “Bread Butter Tea Sugar,” and the aforementioned “White Horses,” probably in that order too. “Just Two Girls” centres around female friendship, featuring a really catchy, piano-led melody and some extremely lush vocals from lead-singer Ellie Rowsell. 

Image by Drew de F Fawkes, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

More Highlights

I loved the combination of melodic elements on “Bread Butter Tea Sugar.” The strings in the background, the upbeat piano, and the guitar solo towards the end of the song combined to make for a really catchy pop-song that gave me heavy vibes of ELO, Steely Dan and The Beatles. I’m also a sucker for a really good shuffle too, so I’m a little bit biased when it comes to this one. With regards to “White Horses,” this track was led vocally by drummer Joel Amey, and the synergy he had with Rowsell on this track was infectious, a factor that played heavily in my enjoyment of this track. I loved the use of acoustic guitars too, especially the acoustic bass lick that embellishes the end of some of the verses.  

Overall, this album has proved to be one of my absolute favourites of 2025. The high level of nuance and layering that was present throughout this album was super impressive, and I definitely recommend that you check this album out if you get the chance. If The Clearing is any indication of where Wolf Alice are heading sonically, I’m all the way in on going with em.’