London-born band Wolf Alice will never not surprise listeners. Hot on the heels of their fourth studio album, The Clearing, they’ve been touring the world to share this new collection of decade-defying, instantly classic rock songs. Before their show in Hamburg, staff writer Ella Mastroianni sat down with Theo Ellis and Joff Oddie from the band to talk about this new body of work and all of the surprises and joys that have come with it.
You guys just released your fourth album, and it is nodding to the ’70s and has a very timeless quality. After around three months of it being out in the world, how are you guys feeling about the reception of it? Are any sort of fan reactions surprising you? Are people flocking to a song that you were like, “Oh, I didn’t think people would like it that much?” or, vice versa?
Joff: Oh, interesting. I think “White Horses” has been one that’s maybe surprised. That’s kind of doing pretty well with the good people like yourselves over at the alt radio stations are really liking that one. So that’s really cool. That was a really fun one. I can’t, I just can’t really believe we’re still here after, you know, after this long now, talking about our fourth album. It’s kind of, it’s kind of crazy, yeah.
What about you? Theo, what do you think?
Theo: Yeah, I think it’s so funny. It’s really nice, like, kind of how the songs change your perspective once they’re released into the world. We lived with them for such a long time. So it was kind of like a real cathartic moment, actually putting the record out. I think just being like, “Okay.” Think at the moment, my headspace is just really excited about kind of our immediate future, which is our touring. We’re working on our show and performing at the moment, playing in Hamburg tonight, but then also what is going to come next. Like, it’s kind of like, once you’ve got something out, you kind of—the cogs start turning, being like, I wonder what this The Clearing album is going to do for where we go next. Like, I wonder where our headspaces will be at. So that’s kind of an interesting, exciting prospect down the line, but I just feel happy to be playing all the time.
Yeah, and I mean, since you mentioned you’re on tour right now, is there a song that’s your favorite to play or to perform?
Theo: Yesterday, I enjoyed playing “Bread Butter Tea Sugar.” That was fun.
Yeah, was there anything specific about it that was really fun, or just the energy?
Theo: It’s just like a bombastic, kind of like, not silly, but like, kind of camp fun song to play that I don’t know if we’ve got anything else like that in our repertoire up until now. Feels like a bit of a tightrope playing that one as well, doesn’t it? It feels like if you fall off at some point, you’re gonna completely fall off and never be able to come back. So it’s new playing it, so there feels like there’s quite a lot of Jeopardy with that song, which is fun. It’s interesting. I kind of feel like almost answering the last question now, like I feel like we kind of, I always feel like I really get to know the songs when I start playing them live. So you do them in the studio, you work them out in the studio context, and then you just play them over and over and over again on tour, and it’s there where I really feel like I get to know them kind of inside out. And it’s almost, sometimes it feels like you should record them again afterwards. It feels like, ah, after 18 months of playing an album, you go, “Oh, I know what, I know what it is now better,” which is kind of strange, but, yeah, super fun.
I was also kind of curious what albums by other artists you would say that this album, in particular, is in conversation with. What music do you see this album speaking with?
Theo: It’s a good question. I don’t know, necessarily, if it’s always been like whole albums. It was quite, we were quite referential to individual songs. There was—in terms of “White Horses”—there was this one song by a group called Pentangle, a live performance of them playing a song called “Wedding Dress.” And a lot of the rhythms and the way that was arranged was really inspirational. I think to us, like we kept coming back to that one live version. I think All Things Must Pass, George Harrison, was referenced quite a lot. I think we kind of spoke a lot about Glen Campbell’s string arrangements, sometimes with songs like “The Sofa.” So it’s kind of pockets of some artists here and there. Struggling to think of a full record, but yeah, there’s lots of different bits. And then in terms of the modern world, Alex G’s always been an inspiration in how I think he uses real core songwriting principles and kind of uses acoustic guitars in really interesting but modern, fresh ways. HAIM have always been a band that just kind of—formidable songwriters that present their music in a unique but kind of vintage, timeless way as well. So, yeah, those are a few of them.
You mentioning all of these songs and artists, I can definitely see The Clearing existing in the same spaces. Joff, do you have anything to say on that?
Joff: Yeah, I mean, lots of stuff really. I mean, I think the palette is a bit more Trad in terms of kind of bad and band kind of, you know, sounds in terms of organic instruments, you know, acoustic and electric guitars and drums and, you know, piano, a lot of piano on the record. I don’t know, stuff like Bowie I was listening to. I had Revolver in my head a lot as we were making this record. That’s one of my, I think that’s my favorite Beatles record, and I think that it’s really cool that record, that it’s, I don’t know, it’s so it feels so colorful and alive and full of fresh ideas, not saying that our album was or is, but that was in my head when we were making it for sure. And then, like Theo said, you know, Women in Music Pt. III, that Heim record, I think really made an impression on us, as did a lot of the Alex G stuff. Yeah. I mean, just like T Rex, and, you know, T Rex and Fleetwood Mac, and then people like Nick Drake and, yeah, John Fahey and lots of stuff. But probably, yeah, things of a more kind of organic palette.
This was your first time working with Greg. Was there anything that you learned from having this new collaborator on your team? Did you learn anything about your own craft through him, or through the process of working with him?
Joff: Yeah, lots of stuff. Greg’s an amazing facilitator. I think that’s what’s kind of special about him, because somebody of his skill set could just kind of make the record for you. He’s such an accomplished musician, an incredible songwriter, but his shtick, very much, is about enabling you to go and, you know, do your thing and use your kind of unique voice as a musician or a singer or whatever it is or songwriter, to get the best out of you. So it’s kind of a bit of a lesson in backing yourself, I guess, and kind of leaning into your natural kind of voice, and, you know, tone as a musician, but just so nice as well, which is kind of annoying. You know, you kind of—to be that good, and as nice as he is, just, I’m trying to find a flaw in the guy, and I can’t, and he’s, yeah, it’s annoying. You shouldn’t allow it to be that nice and talented at the same time. It’s, it feels wrong to me. But, you know, I’m a bad guy and a bad musician, so.
I wouldn’t say that!
Joff: But yeah, it was, it was amazing. It was one of the best musical experiences of my life, hands down. He’s just astounding.
Kind of hard to answer, maybe, but do you have a favorite song on the album, and does that correlate with what you’re able to do with your instrument in that song?
Theo: If I’m talking about just a bass part, I like “Just Two Girls” a lot. I think that’s fun. I think it’s kind of rhythmically unexplored territory, slightly for me and Joel. But I don’t know emotionally, they all kind of resonate differently depending on how your day’s gone. So your favorite changes forever for me, and I get to kind of listen to the album via the means of playing it every night. So I couldn’t answer that one on an emotional level at the moment.
Joff: I think for me, it was a real interesting experience this new record, because I think I had to try and be a guitar player more of a traditional sense, where I think in the past, I’ve tried to be a little bit more abstract with what I was doing. So definitely, kind of had to, had to work on the scales and bits and bobs like that, and do some kind of—like a “Bread Butter Tea Sugar,” you know, it’s got, kind of, like a rock guitar solo that’s pretty hard to play and pretty fast and stuff. So it’s a bit of a challenge, and a lot more exposed than previous records, which was, um, yeah, interesting, but yeah, such fun. I think we’ve enjoyed this record so much. Yeah, such a privilege.
