Wolf Alice, The Clearing Interview: Out of the Woods, Into Their Boldest Album Yet

Formed around 15 years ago in North London, Wolf Alice have grown into one of the most vital and fearless bands of their generation. With their fourth album The Clearing — their first release on RCA and perhaps their most cohesive statement yet — the band once again prove that evolution isn’t a risk, but their greatest strength.

wolf alice the clearing

Recorded during the uncertainty of lockdown, Blue Weekend signalled the biggest sonic shift the band had made to date. Amongst the raw rockers like ‘Smile’ and ‘Play the Greatest Hits’ — written to shoosh the most vocal of fans — lay something deeper. Tracks such as ‘The Last Man on Earth’ and ‘Delicious Things’ hinted at a growing mat It’s difficult to call The Clearing their best album when nostalgia clings so tightly to earlier work. But it is. Certainly their most cohesive. If their early records soundtracked the chaos of early adulthood, The Clearing captures a band stepping into something steadier. Wolf Alice are the kind of band that just keep getting better with every record, and this time they’ve raised their own bar yet again. They are, quite simply, Britain’s finest band — fearless, evolving, and still writing the soundtrack to our lives. With The Clearing, Wolf Alice don’t just step out of the woods: they claim the crown — not by force, but by fearlessness — with songs destined to echo for decades.GRAurity and a restless desire to push their musicianship and writing even further.

It was with all this history in mind that I found myself chatting with guitarist Joff Oddie and drummer Joel Amey one early London morning. For label reasons, the video isn’t being released — but the audio captures all the warmth and candour that makes their records so magnetic. The pair had already begun rehearsing The Clearing material and were heading straight off to practice again right after our chat. Together we traced the band’s journey into this new chapter — The Clearing — and the risks, revelations, and reinventions that came with it.

Watch: Wolf Alice talk The Clearing (Interview with Joff & Joel)

Wolf Alice Essentials

If you’re new to the band or just want to trace their journey, here’s a perfect primer — spanning from the snarling ‘Moaning Lisa Smile’ and ‘Giant Peach’ through to the Mercury-winning highs of Visions of a Life and the cinematic scope of Blue Weekend.

Wolf Alice The Clearing

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Listen to The Clearing

Our Review of The Clearing