Wolf Alice are a British alternative rock band from London, beginning as an acoustic duo between Ellie Rowsell and Joff Oddie. Their name came from a short story by Angela Carter, in her anthology titled “The Bloody Chamber and other stories”, one of the stories being “Wolf Alice”.
Eventually deciding to add electric elements to their sound, they recruited Rowsell’s childhood friend Sadie Cleary to play bass and Oddie’s friend James DC to be their drummer. However, when James DC broke his wrist in 2012, the band appointed Joel Amey to step in as a temporary replacement drummer, who then became a permanent fixture within the band. And so, Wolf Alice were formed, and have never looked back since.
When Wolf Alice were just Ellie and Joff, their early material was something resembling folk-pop. However, once the other members joined the two, they became far more rock-oriented with Clash magazine describing the band as “the lovechild of folk and grunge”. Wolf Alice have been described to have a similar sound to that of Elastica with elements The xx. Wolf Alice really have mastered their own sound, and the uniquity of it is what makes them so special.
What’s more, there is another dynamic to this band that makes them so remarkable comes in the form of lead singer, Ellie Rowsell. In 2017, a Guardian reporter, Michael Winterbottom followed the band on tour to create a documentary on the group. He stated: “What was nice about them compared with a lot of guitar bands, is Ellie is the focal point. You have all these 14-year old girls who are mad, passionate fans and see her as a role model, a liberating and empowering thing.”
Not only is it exceptional to see such a talented lead singer in Ellie Rowsell, but their success is also a huge inspiration to any aspiring up-and-coming bands. In 2014, Wolf Alice signed to Dirty Hit Records, home to the likes of The 1975, The Japanese House, and Pale Waves to name a few. In May of that year, they released their second EP ‘Creature Songs’, fast forward to December, and the band were named ‘Best Breakthrough Artist” at the UK Festival Awards.
Upon the initial success of their first album release, Wolf Alice released their second studio album ‘Visions of a Life’ in September 2017. The album debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart, and received universal acclaim from music critics. ‘Visions of a Life’ was ranked as one of the best albums of the year by multiple publications, whilst also winning the 2018 Mercury Prize. Previous winners of the highly applauded award are Primal Scream, Arctic Monkeys, and Skepta, setting a precedent for how Wolf Alice’s career would pan out.
The Mercury Prize award was a very good indication of just how far this band can go. Today, Wolf Alice announced the highly anticipated release of their third studio album titled ‘Blue Weekend’ out on June 11th via Dirty Hit, and a UK tour to accompany the album. Ellie spoke behind the meaning of the album title by stating: “Blue is a nice colour, but it also means sad. And I often think the weekend is so fun, but lots of drama takes place then so sometimes it’s the catalyst for you downfall.” With the band releasing the first single from their forthcoming album titled ‘The Last Man On Earth’, the sound bodes very, very well for what we can expect come June 11th. Meanwhile, the band said on Twitter in relation to their upcoming tour: “We’ve finally got a tour to announce and it feels soo goooood. We are coming home.”
Wolf Alice are a band that continuously goes from strength to strength with every release. You can expect the release of ‘Blue Weekend’ to be as good as ‘Visions of a Life’, if not better. 2021/22 is going to be huge for the historic British band. See below for tour dates.
JANUARY 2022
7th — Glasgow, Barrowland Ballroom
9th — Newcastle, City Hall
10th — Norwich, UEA
12th — Manchester, O2 Apollo
14th — Sheffield, O2 Academy
15th — Liverpool, O2 Academy
18th — London, Eventim Apollo
22nd — Southampton, O2 Guildhall
23rd — Bexhill-on-Sea, De La Warr Pavilion
25th — Dublin, Olympia
27th — Birmingham, O2 Academy
28th — Plymouth, Pavilions
30th — Bristol, O2 Academy
