music After releasing their Mercury Prize Award winning album Vision Of A Life back in 2017, Wolf Alice are now back with the brand new album Blue Weekend which is due for release on 11 June 2021. With an upcoming tour around the corner in January 2022 and a livestream performance at Worthy Farm for Glastonbury in May of this year, I was fortunate enough to have a Zoom call with both Theo Ellis (Bass Guitarist) and Joff Oddie (Guitarist) from the band, discussing the future plans of Wolf Alice, their up and coming album, and how the pandemic has impacted their career over the past year. Obviously, you recorded the album in Somerset. So, I’m guessing it’s a bit different to what you’ve done previously with lockdown happening and everything? J: We didn’t actually record it in Somerset. No, no, we recorded in Brussels. I think a couple of people have said that, but we did some of the writing in Somerset in 2019, but we went and recorded it in Brussels. T: We went there because we really had a great experience when we were younger, making the Creature Songs EP, which was what 2015 maybe 2014? I’m terrible with my timelines of life. And it was a residential studio, so you’re pretty much selfcontained, and you’re just locked away focusing on making a record. So we were in that kind of bubble, and we were still there when Coronavirus happened, which made it even more of a bubble. When was this? Was it during the midst of the pandemic or was it just after it? J: We went in January 2020 and we were there until May I think, maybe a little bit later. So we were there without Coronavirus, Coronavirus came, and we were just kind of locked in the studio. So did you guys just stay there and focus on the album for the whole of the lockdown? J: Pretty much the whole of the first lockdown. It was very intense. No respite
How did you find that in comparison to your previous two albums? I’m assuming it was as intense as you said? J: Yeah, well, there was no escape from it. I think with all the other records, we could go and blow off a little bit of steam on Friday night, go off to a bar or whatever. We’d see people over the weekend. But this was you know, you live in the studio, now you’re not even allowed to go out on the weekend or ever. You can go for a walk in the morning if you want, but that’s it. So it was just front and centre of everything we did for about three months. As much as I love it, doing anything that long, and with that intensity without a break, can get a bit much. Do you consider this new album as more refined and progressed than previous releases? T: Yeah, that probably has something to do with the fact that everyone was locked away refining it for so long. In terms of detail, there’s probably never been a Wolf Alice project that’s had so much focus on that small amount of songs for a prolonged period of time. So in terms of real decision making and making sure everything was in its right place and had its purposes, it was a fine tooth comb process from my perspective. Was it tiring recording the album without any breaks? J: We’re making out like it was a horrible process. It was really incredible. But not getting any rest or getting any perspective from it can kind of fry your brain a little bit, especially when you’re going into the minutiae of things, and not having any breaks. Yeah, I think we were all pretty exhausted when we came back. We didn’t even finish there though, we had a week or so in a studio in Clapton to completely finish things off. So it was intense! This record seems a lot more personal and emotional than previous releases, especially since Don’t Delete the Kisses is the only love song in your current discography. Can it give listeners a deeper insight into your music? T: That was the first time Ellie kind of let herself go with any preconceptions about things like love songs, and talking with a personal touch to things and especially on such relatable topics. I think when you open up people relate to it a lot more and it can create a stronger bond with people and your fan base. I always enjoy it personally, as a fan, when a band I’ve listened to for a prolonged period of time opens up a little bit more with that side of things.
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