An Interview with Wolf Alice

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 firstlockdown. 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 refiningit 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 finetooth 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 finishthere though, we had a week or so in a studio in Clapton to completely finishthings 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 firsttime 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.

What songs are you most looking forward to playing on your tour?

T: It’s very exciting. I’m desperate for people to hear How Can I Make It Okay and to play it, because I love a chorus at the moment. I love a group of people chanting - that’s what I miss the most. Maybe it’s me missing football. J: I think playing The Greatest Hits is going to be a fun one. It’s there, and it’s gone very quickly.

Are you guys looking forward to touring again after such a long break since 2019?

J: I can’t wait. It feels like there is a gaping hole in my life that needs to be filledwith a dirty venue and loads of people singing along, and having a nice time. It’s just a level of connection that you don’t really get in a lot of other kinds of walks of life. Especially in lockdown, you just don’t have that connection. It feels so necessary, and it feels so sad that we haven’t had it for so long. So it’s going to be probably going to be a bit too much when it happens. So, yeah, panic attack, we can all have a panic attack together.

It was announced yesterday that you’re doing the live stream for Glastonbury. How did that come about? And how do you feel about doing this?

T: Yeah, absolutely buzzing to be honest. This is actually done at Glastonbury at Worthy Farm. So just the fact that we get to go there and play songs in that environment will be nostalgic, sad, happy, loads of different weird emotions, because obviously, you won’t have 250,000 plus people milling around doing their amazing thing. The selection of people we’re playing with is so cool, and just to be on that limited bill is an honour, playing there is an honour. It’s going to be wicked. It’s good, like a really nice treat for us. And yeah, anything to get out of the house to be honest! So Glastonbury is quite a good excuse, rather than the shops.

So with that, are you thinking of doing any more livestreams with the album?

T: We’ve got some plans. I think we can’t say too much about what we’re planning on doing. But we are going to do something. J: Yeah, there’s lots of there’s lots of visual stuff that’s cooking away in the background that is going to be coming out in the next three months.

Apparently you’ve created a bunch of music videos for the album because you haven’t been able to tour. How did that idea come about?

J: I think it was an idea that we’d always wanted to do for every album. We’d go, “wouldn’t it be wicked if there was a load of music and if there was a video for each song”? But I think the situation, the context really drove it as well. I think we’re saying “alright, we’re going to bring out an album. If we can’t be out on the road, you know, what do we do with a button? What do we do with a PR budget to kind of make it stretch and create more stuff, basically, for people to engage in?”. And we got to work with some really cool people, and hopefully people like it.

You were initially identified as having a folk tinge to your music, and when ‘My Love is Cool’ came out people compared you to grunge. What do you artistically identify with?

T: I don’t think we artistically identify with any one genre, honestly. When I tell my nan what genre we are, we all say indie or rock to be not reductive, because they’re great genres of music, but just to frame it well. But fundamentally yeah, we are a guitar driven kind of indie band, I suppose. But we love to write different styles of songs. Nowadays, kids and people like a plethora of different things that it’s not a tribal way that I was like when I grew up. Certainly, like, you like indie, you dress like you like indie. That’s it. You like rap music, that’s your thing. So much crossover with all the playlist culture and streaming services and all those different things where you can pick and choose what you want. So hopefully, it’s becoming more indicative of that kind of thing, which is how I consume music.

words by: Emily Jade Ricalton design by: May Collins