Guitarist Joff Oddie takes us behind their fourth full-length, scaling up and the time they played at music festival Backdoors in 2018 in Mumbai and Bengaluru
British rock band Wolf Alice. Photo: Rachel Fleminger Hudson
In February 2018, British rock band Wolf Alice made their India debut at music festival Backdoors’ Mumbai and Bengaluru editions. On the back of their album Visions of a Life, the band brought a whirlwind of angsty and anthemic energy to Indian audiences.
Guitarist Joff Oddie tells Rolling Stone India over an email interview, “We often say that coming to India was one of the best experiences we’ve ever had as a band. It was so much fun and we’d love to come back. We’ve yet to be offered, so anyone interested, please do reach out, as we’d love to return!” He underscores it again just as he signs off, hoping promoters can get Wolf Alice back to India.
If they do make it back, this time it’ll be on the back of an equally (if not possibly more) acclaimed album, The Clearing, which released on Aug. 22, 2025 via Columbia U.K./RCA. The 11-track album—inspired by the Eighties and prior eras of rock songwriting—has already seen Wolf Alice shortlisted for the U.K.’s feted Mercury Prize, for the fourth time. That gives the band—comprising Oddie, vocalist-guitarist Ellie Rowsell, bassist Theo Ellis and drummer Joel Amey—the distinction that they’ve shortlisted for each album now, even winning for Visions of a Life in 2018.
Oddie says, “I think the shortlist is the important part, to be honest, and matters a lot more than who wins.” He’s caught up with all his fellow shortlisted acts as well, checking out everyone from singer-songwriter Jacob Alon to folk veteran Martin Carthy. “Also love that FKA Twigs record[[Eusexua Afterglow], it sounds amazing. It’s an incredible forum for discovery and yes, we’re very honored to be a part of it!”
That kind of wide-ranging openness to absorbing music is perhaps what makes Wolf Alice’s The Clearing—produced by Los Angeles producer Greg Kurstin, whose credits include Adele, Paul McCartney and Beck—an inevitable hit. It takes its name from the song “Bread Butter Tea Sugar,” a sparkling, buoyant song in which Ellie Rowsell closes with a hushed but vivid description: “Under the shadow of a mountain/I pay no mind to move/There is still some scattered light/It warms me up like it could reach me inside/And then I come into a clearing.”
Wolf Alice pack a punch with songs like the empowering, super-charged “Bloom Baby Bloom,” the cheery ode to female friendships “Just Two Girls,” (written and recorded in a day and a half) the pacey, psychedelic “White Horses” and confessional, Fleetwood Mac-esque cuts like “Leaning Against The Wall.”
He says “Leaning Against The Wall” called for something that needed to be “sonically expressed in a more widescreen manner” on the theme love. Oddie adds, “So we put the programmed drums on it and some lush synths. Theo actually played the double bass on this tune, which was a first too!”
When asked about the sonic influence from the Sixties, Seventies and Eighties, Oddie explains that how pop music of that time was largely played by bands. The pull of taking influence from music of those decades, Oddie says, was also about the importance towards “fundamentals.” He says, “There was limited tech also, so it felt like an emphasis was placed on the core elements of songwriting, musicianship and performance. Today, lots can be done with production and music tech, but back in the day you had to have these fundamentals on lock if you were going to do well. I think we were drawn to these ideas and maybe took a step back from modern processing, putting more of a focus on those key skills.”
Thematically, Wolf Alice are more matured than ever, using hindsight, life lessons and more to find peace. The band have mentioned in interviews that it’s something that came from getting older, going after one’s 30s. Oddie says, “I think some people do start to maybe accept who they are a little more, and can often start to be a bit kinder to themselves, the older they get.” He’s quick to add that it’s not something that everyone may necessarily go through. He continues, “I think maybe becoming more comfortable with uncertainty. The Clearing, as a title, expresses a moment of peace one could have. Not necessarily out of the woods or having the answers to all one’s problems, but a moment of peace.”
The band will head out on their biggest U.S. tour in the coming days. Oddie says, “The mood is very high at the moment. It’s been a crazy couple of months […] We’ve got some other big things coming up, what with the U.K. arena tour on the horizon too. So lots of plotting and planning!”