CD of The Week

Brit rockers Wolf Alice made their name over the past decade amidst layers of guitars. But on their fourth album, The Clearing, the band expands their palate and brings in piano melodies, unique rhythms, and Fleetwood Mac-esque melodies, all anchored by frontwoman Elle Rowsell.

The Clearing is about maturing and growing up, and not just because the band members are out of their twenties and in their thirties. Rowsell decided to put down her own guitar and leave the instruments to the rest of the band members, which opened up their sound a bit and really puts her voice front and center throughout. Working with Grammy-winning producer Greg Kurstin (Adele, Foo Fighters, CHVRCHES), Wolf Alice pile on acoustic guitars and string sections, while never losing the energy they bring to their best material. Think of it as their R.E.M.-Out of Time move.

On the opening ballad “Thorns,” Rowsell questions her own songwriting process, singing, “I must be a narcissist / God knows that I can't resist / To make a song and dance about it.” The pounding piano widescreen rock of “Bloom Baby Bloom” was the first taste of the new record, while the laid-back 70s pop vibe of “Just Two Girls” is an ode to female friendship.

“Play It Out” is a lush piano ballad that tackles head-on thoughts of getting older, right from the attention-grabbing opening line, “When my body can no longer make a mother of me / Will I change my notion of time?” A definite highlight is “Bread Butter Tea Sugar,” a jaunty tribute to doing bad things that feel good. The jangling rocker “White Horses” is co-sung by Rowsell and drummer Joel Amey, capturing his feelings about traveling in the band as well as his love for his homeland of England.

The Clearing wraps with the lovely ballad “The Sofa,” evoking the hits of the great Carole King as Rowsell yearns to just relax, while also accepting all aspects of her personality: “The intellectual beauty queen and the wild thing.”

A logical leveling up for Wolf Alice, The Clearing gives the band new life and new sounds to conquer, and is a welcome expansion of their world. Wolf Alice return to Philadelphia for a sold out show at Union Transfer on September 15th.

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