The Clearing feels like a new Wolf Alice, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a solid vehicle for what might be the best vocals of the year.
Release date: August 29, 2025 | Columbia Records | Instagram | Facebook | TikTok | Stream/Purchase
Admittedly, I was not kind to The Clearing on first listen. I take responsibility for that being kind of a dick move motivated primarily by expectations and nostalgia: a trap that I should have known how to avoid. Oh well. Like many current and formerly blue-haired millennials, I have an intense attachment to the Life is Strange series of games. I first heard Wolf Alice playing one of those games, and “Bros”, off of their first LP My Love Is Cool from over a decade ago now, has a very special place in my heart. That was the Wolf Alice of my 20s–a bit angry, a bit over-the-top, but full of energy and love. The Clearing is the Wolf Alice of my 30s, and their songwriting (and I, maybe) has matured substantially into something much more interesting and introspective.
The band’s prior albums can loosely be described as indie or alternative rock. Each entry still took the time to experiment a touch, with ballads like “No Hard Feelings” or prog epics such as “Visions of a Life”, but at their heart, these are rock records through and through. The Clearing isn’t, and that is not, despite my dummy early judgement, a bad thing. If I had to make a real pass at the genre of this work, I would call it indie pop, singer-songwriter maybe. But my real answer to the genre question is ‘1970’s pastiche,’ across the board. “Just Two Girls” could pass for a theme song for a television show from 1973. The string arrangements throughout are extremely reminiscent of Let It Be. I don’t particularly care if it is cliché to harken this to Fleetwood Mac‘s Rumors, but come on, guys. There’s only so much lush pop production, layered harmonies, repeated use of acoustic guitar, and crazy good singing one can hear before that comparison gets brought up.
The shining star of The Clearing, unsurprisingly, is Ellie Rowsell’s incredible vocal performance. Even during my short-lived skeptic phase, I was absolutely captivated. Her amazing soprano range is unmatched in the current indie sphere, in my opinion, as well as her versatility. “Bloom Baby Bloom”, which is likely the best track off the album, showcases her soaring head voice as well as the signature pseudo-screaming in her highest register that is difficult to replicate. I genuinely think Rowsell could have had a great career in musical theatre, considering the strength of her belt and shocking stamina when performing live. There is not a single moment in the 41-minute runtime where I felt she was either out of her league or resting on her laurels. Her performance is beyond impressive; it’s masterful.
I also spent a lot of time thinking about The Car by Arctic Monkeys while listening to The Clearing. There are a lot of similarities in both sound and general band trajectory, as well as faults. Both efforts have a distinctly lounge-y vibe; heavily orchestrated, theatrical vocal delivery, tons of piano, etc. Both marked a major shift from the bands’ previous works. And, to be frank, both could have easily passed as solo albums.
A noteworthy problem with The Clearing is exactly this: that the rest of the band doesn’t really have a ton to do. The rare tracks where we get some bona fide showmanship, or even just substantial vocal lines from drummer Joel Amey (such as the quite catchy “White Horses”), are the standouts. There’s a run of about four songs right smack dab in the middle that don’t develop into much beyond an exhibition for Rowsell’s voice, and are all a bit too close in tempo and arrangement to be worth noting. That’s tough on an eleven-track album, especially one that already leans a lot on the ballads.
Despite this, I’ve revisited The Clearing, especially the front and back thirds, quite a few times, listening more closely for the lyrics that hit a bit harder now that we are all older. There’s plenty to unpack here, but I’ll leave you with the opening verse from the utterly stunning “The Sofa”:
‘Hope I can accept the wild thing in meHope nobody comes to tame herAnd she can be freeSick of second-guessing my behaviorAnd what I want to beJust let me lie here on the sofaAnd put the reruns on TV’
Yeah. Fuck. What a way to end an album that circles around self-acceptance and moving past shame. Maybe the blue-haired version of myself listening to My Love Is Cool and the me writing this review can enjoy an episode of Columbo together later. That feels right, I think.
