Review Summary: A mature reflection on aging, feminism, romance, and accepting who you are; a shame that the songs themselves rarely (if ever) go outside the band’s comfort zone.
When Wolf Alice released
Bloom Baby Bloom, the lead single off
The Clearing, it seemed as if the band was triumphantly beginning a new chapter of their career. The song features upbeat and inspired instrumentals, including an irresistibly catchy piano riff, stellar drum work, and a dynamic, emotional chorus featuring a soaring vocal performance from lead vocalist Ellie Rowsell. The song kept me on the edge of my seat upon my first listen, and I was eager to hear what other creative ideas the band would come up with on
The Clearing. It was a minor disappointment to realize that the album’s following two singles,
The Sofa and
White Horses (which are both slower-paced and much less instrumentally creative) would be a more accurate representation of the album’s sound as a whole.
To put it bluntly,
The Clearing is Wolf Alice’s slowest, most ballad-heavy album to date (depending on how you define “ballad,” over half of the album is this way). This is, of course, nothing new for the band, as you could argue that their previous album,
Blue Weekend, was the same way. However, while
Blue Weekend had occasional, high-energy detours like
Smile and
Play The Greatest Hits, the same cannot be said about
The Clearing. In fact, the aforementioned
Bloom Baby Bloom is far and away the most upbeat, enthusiastic song on the album. With all this in mind, it’s a good thing that Wolf Alice, for the most part, writes ballads exceedingly well. For example,
Play It Out (a piano-driven track with lyrical themes about aging), and
Leaning Against the Wall (which has a lush, beautiful chorus) are album highlights despite their down-tempo nature. Wolf Alice’s penchant for ballads only comes back to bite them in the album’s second half;
Midnight Song and
Safe In The World are two of the album’s most forgettable tracks, and they’re unfortunately placed next to each other in the track list, leading to the album’s flow stalling around this point.
The Clearing features a handful of mid-tempo tracks as well, and frankly, these songs are where the band is at their best.
Passenger Seat,
Just Two Girls, and
Bread Butter Tea Sugar have infectious, earworm choruses that pair perfectly with their softer, acoustic instrumental arrangements. In fact, these songs are so good they make you wish there were more like them on the rest of the album. Replacing one of the second-half ballads with a mid-tempo track like these could’ve gone a long way towards improving the overall flow of the album.
All in all,
The Clearing is an honest, somber reflection of love and aging with a feminine lyrical twist. Rowsell and the rest of the gang have yet again displayed their musical talents for the world to see, even if it’s a slight let down that the album lacks the dynamic instrumental variety and engaging flow of their previous releases.
3.5 out of 5
