Wolf Alice announce new album ‘The Clearing’ and share comeback single ‘Bloom Bloom Bloom’
Wolf Alice have announced details of their fourth album, The Clearing, alongside the release of the new single, ‘Bloom Baby Bloom’.
This is a shock to few, given that the band has been gearing back into life following four years out of the public eye and their upcoming appearance at Glastonbury this summer. The band began teasing their latest chapter on social media in April with a string of cryptic posts and the unveiling of a new logo.
The new song opens with a piano refrain that builds murkily alongside thumping drums. Backing vocals add extra texture to the offering, opening into an anthemic chorus. Lyrics include: “And if you knew mе / You’d know that it would hurt / Feel like I won’t flower in spoiled еarth / But I’ll bloom, baby, bloom / Watch me, yeah, you’ll see just what I’m worth.”
In the band’s announcement, The Clearing is described as “both playful and serious, ironic and straight-talking” and “a progressive shift from a band whose exploration of love, loss and human connection has already articulated the coming-of-age experience for a whole generation”.
They continued: “It’s a classic pop/rock album that nods to the ‘70s while remaining rooted firmly in the present. If Fleetwood Mac wrote an album today in North London, you’d get somewhere close to this run of effortlessly grand tracks, each as distinct as the last.
Wolf Alice’s last album, Blue Weekend, garnered them stratospheric success, including a number one album in the UK and a nomination for the Mercury Prize. With the new single, vocalist Ellie Rowsell said, “I wanted a rock song, to focus on the performance element of a rock song and sing like Axl Rose, but to be singing a song about being a woman.”
The band collaborated with director Colin Solal Cardo on the music video. He has also worked with Charli XCX, Robyn, and Phoenix. In the clip, Rowswell stands in the middle of a host of dancers arranged by Emmy Award-winning choreographer Ryan Heffington.
The Clearing, the band’s upcoming album, will be released via Sony Music on Friday, August 29th. In the run-up, the band is set to play intimate shows in Ireland next week before appearing before larger crowds at BBC Radio One’s Big Weekend and Glastonbury.
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