The Clearing by Wolf Alice
Wolf Alice has been in my rotation since I discovered the video game, Life Is Strange, and the legendary indie-folkish track, "Bros", played in it. While the Life is Strange franchise has unfortunately succumbed to less than ideal circumstances1, Wolf Alice has been going strong with their several successful records under their belt.
They've been reinventing themselves sonically — with Visions of a Life, we get a indie-rock record that leans more alternative than anything else, with a taste of shoe-gaze, and with Blue Weekend, it leaned into a cleaner dream pop vibe that was already beginning to come through on the record right before.
However, with The Clearing, we get one more curveball! The Clearing has essences of Fleetwood Mac with "Just Two Girls", Kate Bush with the stunningly lush "Bloom Baby Bloom"2, and the stripped-back folky track "Play It Out".
Thematically, the album comes across as a post-coming-of-age type of release, where the characters in the songs experience all kinds of emotional moments, whether that’s love in romantic relationships, friendships, or even existential crises about their purpose in life, or grappling with the choice of motherhood.
And I really loved it for that. I just graduated with my degree after spending four years at the same school with the same people, and the amount of questioning I’ve done throughout, and even presently, has left me exhausted. But this album was (and is) there to help me cope with these feelings, and I found a lot of fun and comfort in it.
So much so that I travelled to Singapore to catch them on their last stop in their recent Asia tour! They were superb, I would definitely recommend them live3 if you ever get the chance to catch them.
Three Songs to Start With: Bloom Baby Bloom, The Sofa, Just Two Girls
Words That Lingered
When my body can no longer make a mother of me
Will I change my notion of time?
And will you change your mind
On me and I'll be something to leave behind?— Play It Out
Double Exposure unfortunately was unwatchable for me, though I will be tuning in to the newest game coming in March out of curiousity,↩
Saw a comment somewhere that it sounded like 3 songs in one and I agree! In the most lovingly way possible.↩
They have excellent live energy! They also played a lot of their older, more abrasive stuff, which showcases nice range in their vocalist and band.↩