Adam KeysWOLF ALICE, one of the biggest breakthrough bands of recent years, make their eagerly anticipated return, announcing their new album, VISIONS OF A LIFE, and a run of shows worldwide including a UK and European tour in the autumn. The album will be released by Dirty Hit on 29 September.
A first taste of the new record, YUK FOO, was premiered as Annie Mac’s HOTTEST RECORD IN THE WORLD on BBC Radio 1 and is available to stream and download now. Annie Mac previously played the WOLF ALICE song, GIANT PEACH – from the Gold-certified debut MY LOVE IS COOL album – as the first track on her first broadcast when she took over the reigns of the prestigious BBC Radio 1 Evening Show in March 2015 and she has now repeated the feat for her return to the station.
As comebacks go, a gauntlet is hurled by the exhilarating rage rush of YUK FOO, briskly laying waste to all it meets in a little over two minutes. “You bore me, you bore me to death,” screams singer and guitarist ELLIE ROWSELL, “Well, deplore me. No, I don’t give a shit”. Listen to YUK FOO here:
Who the ‘you’ in question is up to us. “We wanted to make it open to interpretation, so that anyone who was frustrated at something or someone could have it as their anthem,” explains Ellie. She herself was inspired by, “Being sick and fed up of certain expectations; for me a lot of it is about being a young woman. Even the everyday wolf-whistle thing. As I get older, I feel like ‘Why have I always put up with that?’ When I sing that kind of song, it’s everything that I want to do when stuff like that happens”.
WOLF ALICE’s debut album, MY LOVE IS COOL, hit #2 in the UK Charts in June 2015 and #12 on the Billboard Chart in the USA. The band were nominated for the Mercury Music Prize; an Ivor Novello Award; a Brit Award for Breakthrough Act and a Grammy for Best Rock Performance; and took an NME Award for Best Live Band. They criss-crossed the UK, USA, Australia, Japan and Europe on the mother of all two-year tours. Last year Ellie and Theo set up the Bands for Refugees movement, after the horrors of Europe’s migrant crisis; the lack of compassion shown in so many quarters shocking them into action.
When WOLF ALICE finally came off the road, instead of floundering or foundering, they channelled their restless energy into a forward motion. Regrouping in London, they spent intense weeks in the rehearsal room, working out their experiences in a wealth of new material. With the bones of VISION OF A LIFE in place, they headed to Los Angeles to turn the songs into an album with producer Justin Meldal-Johnsen [Paramore, Tegan and Sara, Beck, Nine Inch Nails] with Tom Elmhirst [David Bowie, Arcade Fire] mixing.
VISIONS OF A LIFE is fundamentally a personal album, and one of great growth for the band. From the opening HEAVENWARD – a cloudburst of shoegazey guitar and vaulting vocals – through to the epic eight-minute closing title track, it’s an album packed with surprises for those who think they know what WOLF ALICE is.
TRACKLISTING
- HEAVENWARD
- YUK FOO
- BEAUTIFULLY UNCONVENTIONAL
- DON’T DELETE THE KISSES
- PLANET HUNTER
- SKY MUSINGS
- FORMIDABLE COOL
- SPACE & TIME
- SADBOY
- ST PURPLE & GREEN
- AFTER THE ZERO HOUR
- VISIONS OF A LIFE
And now they’re ready to release the album to the world, starting with YUK FOO and a run of intimate USA shows in July, followed by a UK and European tour for the autumn, including their biggest headline show to date at the London Alexandra Palace. Full dates as below:
USA TOUR
JULY
Wed 05 CHICAGO Schubas Tavern
Thu 06 COLUMBUS The Basement
Fri 07 WASHINGTON Rock & Roll Hotel
Sat 08 PHILADELPHIA The Foundry
Mon 10 BOSTON Great Scott
Tue 11 BROOKLYN Rough Trade
Thu 13 PITTSBURGH Club AE
Sat 15 ST LOUIS Off Broadway
Sun 16 KANSAS CITY The Riot Room
Tue 18 DENVER Globe Hall
Fri 21 SEATTLE Sunset Tavern
Sat 22 PORTLAND Star Theatre
Mon 24 SAN FRANCISCO Rickshaw Stop
Wed 26 LOS ANGELES The Echo
EUROPEAN TOUR
OCTOBER
Fri 27 PARIS La Maroquinerie
Sat 28 BRUSSELS Botanique / Orangerie
Mon 30 BERLIN Festsaal Kreuzberg
NOVEMBER
Wed 01 HAMBURG Mojo
Thu 02 KOLN Luxor
Fri 03 AMSTERDAM Melkweg
Wed 08 BRISTOL O2 Academy
Thu 09 MANCHESTER O2 Apollo
Sat 11 GLASGOW Barrowland
Mon 13 NEWCASTLE O2 Academy
Wed 15 NOTTINGHAM Rock City
Thu 16 BIRMINGHAM O2 Academy
Fri 17 NORWICH UEA
Sat 18 LEEDS O2 Academy
Mon 20 BRIGHTON Dome
Tue 21 SOUTHAMPTON O2 Guildhall
Fri 24 LONDON Alexandra Palace
Mon 27 BELFAST Ulster Hall
Tue 28 DUBLIN Olympia
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