Wolf Alice Return With “The Clearing”: A Comeback in Bloom

Ellie Rowsell of Wolf Alice performing at Brixton Academy, London. Photograph: Robin Little/Redferns

By Lilly Palmer I July 2025

Following their last album ‘Blue Weekend’ in 2021, we’ve seen radio silence from Wolf Alice over the past few years in response to a new album. We were left with a dynamically complex album that kept fans across the board waiting for the band's return.

Then on April 2nd of this year, the band's social media accounts had been rebranded entirely with a singular post titled ‘We’ve missed u xxxxxxxx’ to signify and tease their much-anticipated return.

First Single: “Bloom Baby Bloom”

On May 15th, the album's first single, ‘Bloom Baby Bloom’, was released — the band's first music release since ‘In The Bleak Midwinter’ in 2022.

This first single immediately gave us, from a listener's perspective, a taste of what we can expect from the upcoming album. Within seconds, it’s evident that Wolf Alice have once again brought back the sound of what was the peak 2010s indie scene, with, of course, its perfected modern touch that encapsulates everything that we missed over the past few years with the band on hiatus.

Singer Ellie Rowsell’s vocals are so intensely raw that it lures in the listener and allows us in our position to fully be drawn in and surrounded by the chaotically composed track. Alongside this, a music video was released which perfectly mirrored the myriad of different emotions felt throughout the song through colour, light, and overall polished cinematography.

The model way to come back to the music industry after so long.

Second Single: “The Sofa”

Subsequently, in the run-up to the album's release, on July 11th, a second single was released titled ‘The Sofa’. In comparison to our previous single for ‘The Clearing’, this track has a much softer and intimate element to it with its slower tempo, along with its inmost, surreal lyrics.

‘The Sofa’ itself is an adequate single to be released as it spotlights a sense of recognition that speaks to the listener, even with its brutal melancholy, matching the appeal the band has been putting out for years.

From a personal stance, this is the track that I feel most listeners would objectively gravitate to, as it almost depicts a deep, cutting feel that many can apply to themselves, as Rowsell again pours her heart into another beautiful piece of art.

Live Appearances

Release-wise, as of now, this is all the band has given us. However, over the course of this summer, the band has brilliantly played numerous events to showcase how they still have their amazing stage presence, which will once again be seen on their upcoming tours towards the end of this year.

Notably, the band played both Glastonbury (Sunday on the Other Stage) alongside BBC’s Big Weekend Festival as a headliner for Saturday's lineup. These televised events only publicised them more before the upcoming release, which has drawn more attention to their comeback on the whole and highly praised the band on their new work.

Anticipation for “The Clearing”

Concludingly, in the upcoming weeks to August 22nd, when the band releases ‘The Clearing’, there's a strong expectation to be upheld as we can promptly see how two tracks from the album have already been collated and produced perfectly.

So when the album does drop, it won't be a surprise to see the occasional track up in the charts or being critically acclaimed, as we’ve already seen praise of this album from artists like Hayley Williams and many more of a perfect album — yet only time will tell if this is the perfect comeback for Wolf Alice.